


The Cycle

by RaphaelComet



Series: D&D: Forgotten Realms [3]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: 5e, Dungeons & Dragons Campaign, Forgotten Realms - Freeform, Gen, Homebrew Content, Sabot Draconis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:27:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 87,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25117633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaphaelComet/pseuds/RaphaelComet
Summary: A young human girl named Koko finds herself in an adventure which she could have never imagined. Wrongly imprisoned, she is tossed into a group of similarly fated individuals. Together, they fight a common enemy which takes them all over the land, ranging from undead tombs and hidden forests to giant frost mountains and even hell itself. Throughout the journey, Koko fights alongside her comrades against a wide array of creatures and enemies. They visit all different types of locales, meet new friends, make new enemies, and experience all sorts of strange things.
Series: D&D: Forgotten Realms [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1819465





	1. We Who Are About to Die…

**Author's Note:**

> A story chronicling my first ever completed D&D campaign as told from the perspective of the character I played, Koko Stormare. The DM was a friend of mine (Eric) and along with myself, there were five other main players (Nichole, Colten, Tanner, Alexandra, and Justin), with others appearing as guest characters at times. The story takes place in the Forgotten Realms.
> 
> This story is non-canon in my D&D fictional universe. The canon Koko inherits the memories of this story's Koko.
> 
> Below shows whose characters belonged to who:  
>  **Myself** : Koko, Kia, Kasumi, Minerva  
>  **Eric** : Jasper, Mark  
>  **Nichole** : Lireal  
>  **Colten** : Roan, Mountain, Bill  
>  **Tanner** : Moros, Cane  
>  **Alexandra** : Freya, Rollo  
>  **Justin** : Idu, Nim  
>  **Guest Characters** : Torinn, Corbbett, Hikari, Grass, Isil
> 
> Reposted from my FanFiction page:

If you really want to know, then fine. I’ll tell you all about this crazy dream I had…

It all started when my mother died. I was a young teen at the time and still living with the Order of the Sacred Fire on Broken Crescent Island. Without my mother, I felt lost and not really motivated to stay with the Order to become a knight. After giving it some thought, I ran away from the island and went to live my own life. I traveled around in no particular direction, letting the wind take me from place to place. It was great. The sense of freedom to do whatever I wanted and be whoever I wanted to be was so appealing at the time. It was the best feeling in the world, and yet, this was what led me to experiencing the worst feelings in my entire life.

I was exploring a region in a desert by the coast when I was framed for a crime I didn’t commit. Since I was an outsider, it wasn’t hard to pin the crime on me so I was arrested and taken away. Surely the justice system would absolve me of this farce, or so I thought.

I was taken to a courtroom where I beheld a trial just as corrupt as my arrest by the guards. Along with myself, there were others there as well. There was: a female half-elf ranger named Freya, a male wood elf cleric named Roan, a female half-elf fighter named Jasper, a male Tiefling wizard named Moros, and a female wood elf sorcerer named Lireal. We were all charged unjustly for crimes we didn’t commit. They ranged from theft and kidnapping to extortion and even murder. We had no time to plead our case and no evidence was even put forth to rightly convict us. After the so-called trial, all my belongings were taken from me and all I was given were unkempt rags to wear; it was so demeaning. I wanted to fight back but ended up not doing so because I didn’t want to make things worse.

After the trial, we were taken to a fortress-like prison and imprisoned there for what seemed like weeks. It was all a blur so I could be mistaken, but it was for a lengthy period of time. Eventually, we were moved from the prison to a towering fortress called the Colosseum Carnuntum. We were paraded into the center of the arena by a convoy of guards at our backs. All around us were stands of spectators starting about two stories high along the perimeter of the arena. Among the masses were commoners and nobles alike, watching the spectacle below as equals. At one end of the colosseum was a spectator’s stand about five stories high. At the very top, a man wearing noble robes stood up and addressed the crowd.

The vile man addressed himself as the Game Master, or GM for short, and welcomed everyone to the colosseum. He was the one who oversaw the arena and was responsible for countless innocent lives being lost for his and the crowd’s enjoyment. I was glad when we eventually killed the scum, but we’ll get there. I was standing in the middle with the others looking up at him with disdain. I listened as he explained what we’d be doing there as prisoners. He explained that instead of a summary execution, he was going to allow us to fight in the arena in order to prove our innocence, a sort of trial by combat.

Once the condescending introduction was over with, we were led away into the bowels of the arena. I was tossed into the barracks along with the others and that was when my real troubles began. As you can imagine, I was rather pissed, especially since I was in my rebellious teen phase, but there was nothing I could do. Down below, there wasn’t much to see. There was a row of four prisoner cells on the left and a row of three on the right. In the center between the cells were sets of practice dummies and a rack of basic, rusty weapons. On the way down from the arena, we passed an archery range, a locker room, and what appeared to be a vendor of sorts.

At first, I didn’t interact with the other prisoners. I just focused on how I was going to survive until I figured out how to get out of the mess I was in. After my manacles were taken off and the guards had gone, we were left alone to do our own thing. Since we were going to have to fight eventually, my first priority was finding a weapon. I made my way over to the weapon rack and picked out a rusty longsword, a rusty dagger, and tattered hide armor. They weren’t much, but it was better than nothing. While the others slowly began grabbing gear as well, I wandered around and chose a room to call me own. Inside, there was a basic cot and a chest for storing our things, well, what little we had. I opened the chest but it was empty, which wasn’t a surprise. The rest of the day was a bit fuzzy, but I eventually went to bed.

The next day, or at least what I assumed to be the next day, we were awoken by the guards coming into the barracks. Our cell doors were locked so we had to wait for the guards to open them for us. When they came in, they pushed a tray of what was a poor excuse for food through our cell doors along with a cup of disgusting water. The tray was full of gruel which was unsightly and barely edible. I can’t remember if I ate it the first time, but I did have the water which I forced to keep down. After everyone had a moment to choose whether to eat or not, the guards unlocked the cell doors and forced us out towards the arena.

We all made our way outside against our will and saw a stadium full of spectators around us, the cheering and yelling filling our ears as we stood there. Looking around, I remember seeing a pool of water in the center of the field with two stone columns between us and the pool. The details of the fight were hazy, but we made it through, obviously. We fought Kobolds and Owlbears that time and I managed to kill at least one of the Kobolds with my rusty longsword.

After the battle, the crowd began throwing coins into the arena to congratulate us on our victory. Since I was still pissed and annoyed at the situation I was in, I didn’t bother picking up any coins and stomped off back into the barracks along with Jasper. Once I got back inside, I tended to my wounds and rested while I had the chance. When the others got back, they went to the merchant to spend their recently acquired gold. I just watched them from afar, grimacing as I thought to myself about how well they were taking their false imprisonment. I just kept to myself, preparing the best I could for the next battle. As I sat there on the ground, the Tiefling, Moros, dropped a longsword at my feet and said I could have it. Apparently, he and the others noticed how bad I fought with the rusty piece of garbage I had, so they bought me something better to use. It wasn’t that much better than the previous sword I had, but at least it wasn’t rusty and wouldn’t risk snapping in half if I hit something with it. I suppose they figured they had a better chance of surviving if everyone in the group was able to properly fight. Before I could thank him, he was gone. I took the sword and inspected it before tossing the old one away.

Later on, the guards forced us back into our rooms and gave us more of that disgusting gruel to eat. I would rather not recall how it tasted and I can’t even remember if I had any of it that time either. I just remember not getting much sleep that night.

The next day, or if it wasn’t then the next time we were summoned to fight, the guards gathered us up and forced us outside again. The arena was laid out differently than before. This time, there was a stream that split the playing field into halves. We ended up fighting a lot of Kua-toa with a pack of Hellhounds mixed in towards the end. I remember killing at least one of the Kua-toa. Maybe two. Can’t remember. I just remember getting pretty beat up by the scaly little jerks. During the fight, someone cast a spell that made me twice as big. So when I fought against the Kua-toa, they were basically slashing at my heels and calves; it was very irritating.

Eventually, we came out on top and were greeted with applause and cheers from the stands. I was getting pretty annoyed at the normality of all this. This was life and death for us and the people watching all thought it was a game. We could have died! In fact, a couple of us were really close to dying out there, but fortunately we pulled through. This time, I partook in the gathering of coins at the end of the battle. If I was going to survive, I was going to need better equipment, and to get that, I needed money. I grabbed whatever I could then went back into the barracks to see what I could buy.

Once the merchant was free, I went over to take a look at his wares. I wanted to buy a new sword and armor, but all I had enough for was a weapon upgrade. So I bought the best longsword I could and figured I’d just try and not get hit until I had enough to buy better armor. After that, it was pretty much the same as last night, or whatever time it was. Horrible dinner. Horrible sleep. It was becoming a trend which was beginning to wear on me.

The next encounter was rather abrupt and unexpected. Only four of us were taken out to the arena to fight that time. It was Roan, Lireal, Jasper, and myself. When we were forced into the arena, it was rather dark and foreboding. I couldn’t see but only ten feet in front of me. There was a mist or haze that covered the arena floor which prevented us from seeing any further than what we could already see. We were told that if we were going to survive, we had to stay in the light… or follow the light. Something to do with light and such; I can’t remember the specifics. That and we also had to make it to the other side of the arena to “escape” or something. It was all fuzzy because of… reasons, but I’ll get to that, maybe. Fortunately, we had a couple of magic users in the group that knew fire spells, so they started firing off spell after spell to try and light our way across the playing field.

Eventually, one of the fire spells hit something which caused it to ignite into a signal pyre. Once we had something to head towards, we tried moving in that direction. The fog, however, impaired our movement and slowed us down. It felt like it was weighing me down and that I was moving in slow motion. It was frustrating but at least nothing was attacking us… yet. As we continued into the fog, we came across a torch that lit by itself once we got close to it. It seemed like it was a checkpoint of sorts and we were able to move normally around its light.

We continued to light our way through the fog until we came upon a structure. When we got closer, we noticed it was made out of boxes and seemed to be built impromptu. It was shaped like a fortress of sorts with two entrances. We readied ourselves and stormed into the box castle, though it was empty except for more crates. While things were still relatively quiet, we secured the structure and began looking around for anything useful. We pried open one of the crates and found some odd glass vials filled with some sort of glowing liquid. While the more magically apt members of our party inspected the vials, I continued into the castle and found a ladder leading up to a platform. Lireal eventually made her way over as well and we were about to climb up until we heard something in the distance.

There were growls and sounds of something stirring elsewhere in the arena, deep in the fog. I returned to the others with Lireal and we braced ourselves for what was to come. The three others secured the main gate while I went off to secure the side gate by myself. I stood just outside the ramp by a lit lantern, trying to see what was coming at us through the dense fog. After this point, the battle was all but a blur. The bulk of the enemy engaged Roan, Lireal, and Jasper at the front of the fortress. From what they told me, it was the reanimated remains of the creatures we fought last time. The Kuo-toa and the Owlbears were undead and a pain to fight again. There were also Flesh Golems that joined the fight and I killed at least one of them with my longsword, but they beat me up pretty well. Besides that, all was going well up until the point _they_ showed up.

After the undead Kuo-toa, Owlbears, and Flesh Golems were taken care of, one last wave of creatures came to take us on. The Gibbering Mouthers. Those damn Gibbering Mouthers. I should’ve been more careful, but I had been doing well so far, so what was there for me to be worried about? I charged at them head on despite their freakish and disgusting appearance. I was too full of adrenaline and frustration for it to have bothered me. I did my best against one of them, but it all took a turn for the worst. It got the better of me and knocked me out. After that, it was all a blur.

The next thing I remember was waking up in the barracks. I think it was the locker room where I ended up based on the benches and lockers surrounding me. Apparently, I was too valuable to kill off so early in my tenure there, so the arena organizers decided to spare my life and brought me back to fight another day. The others had finished off the creatures and made it out of the fight in one piece. I remember feeling horrible, powerless, and weak. It was awful and to this day I still hate Gibbering Mouthers. The screaming and screeching filling my head and its putrid stench. Urgh! Moving on…

I spent the next couple of days recovering from the traumatic experience. I mainly stayed in my cell just trying to get myself back together. There was one point where some of the others opened a hole in my cell and went looking for an escape route, but they just ended up finding a dead end. They all made it back in one piece and sealed the hole. It was all a blur and I wasn’t even sure if it happened or not until they came back to it later on. I’m not sure how long I was out of commission for, but eventually I was able to get back on my feet and fight once more.

I can’t remember at which point we made contact with him, but we ended up befriending and co-conspiring with another prisoner there. He wasn’t like the rest of us. He was the reigning “champion” of sorts and had been imprisoned there for a long time. Unfortunately, I can’t remember his name so we’ll just call him the Champion. He was a half-orc. As time went on, he began to get fed up with his current life situation and asked us to help him escape the arena. Of course, we were all eager to oblige and accepted his offer. We just had to wait until everything, or at least almost everything, was lined up in our favor.

One day, we were all herded out of the barracks but stopped at the gate. It appeared we were there to watch instead of fight because there were already combatants outside in the arena. We were told the one in the center was going to join us if he survived his trial-by-fire. He was a Dragonborn with blue scales and heavily armed. He looked to be comfortable out there even if he was outnumbered two-to-one. As soon as the battle commenced, the Dragonborn made quick work of his two adversaries. After the battle was over, we were taken back to our cells where the Dragonborn eventually was taken as well. His name was Torinn and after we let him in on our escape plan, he was more than welcome to lend a hand.

Later on in what I believe was the same day, we were again taken back out to the arena except this time, we were all going to fight. We were taken to the center of the arena and left to await our opponents. The battlefield was rather plain and lacking any significant terrain changes which worried me somewhat. I wondered what kind of thing we had to fight next but it was nothing that I could have ever predicted. Once our opponents were revealed, I had wished it had been anything else, even more Gibbering Mouthers, but alas, it wasn’t.

As we waited in the center of the arena, two large gates opened up in front of us, revealing a large number of people coming out from both of them. We readied ourselves for a fierce fight, but as they got closer, we realized they were nothing but common folk. There were men and women as old as the elderly and as young as teenagers. They were wearing nothing more but street clothes and wielding a wide assortment of things ranging from farm tools to large sticks. Once they came into view, I quickly sheathed my weapon to show that I wasn’t hostile. There was no way they could have been our opponents, I thought. They looked frightened and just as confused as we were. Could they have been criminals, I wondered? But then again, we were so-called “criminals” as well. They were most likely falsely accused of something or abducted just to fight for others’ enjoyment like we were. Either way, there was no way I was going to be their executioner, guilty or not.

There was a stand still between them and us for a few moments, neither one of us ready to make the first move. That all changed when the damn Game Master announced that either we kill the helpless civilians or he would kill us. The ultimatum made me grit my teeth at him, forcing us to kill for his entertainment. I was hesitant to even draw my sword; however, some of my other companions didn’t even give a second thought to making the first strike.

The sorcerer, Lireal, launched a devastating magic attack that killed around half a dozen of the poor people in an instant. I was utterly shocked that she was so cavalier with using her magic on them. Roan, Moros, and Jasper were just as stunned as I was but Torinn was unfazed. Shortly after Lireal began her attack, Torinn charged towards a group of civilians and took down a few of them as well. It was pure madness. As I saw Lireal line up for another shot at the civilians, I knew I had to act. All of my teachings with the Order resonated within me and gave me the strength to intervene. I drew my sword and put myself between her and the civilians she was going to attack. I wasn’t going to attack her but I wasn’t about to let her freely attack the civilians either. As I stood my ground, someone cast a spell on me that doubled my size again which caused her to find another target.

While the others were dealing with their own problems, I turned to the group of three or so civilians I was protecting and checked in on them. The first one I decided to help was a middle-aged woman. She appeared to be a barmaid of some sort and she was very frightened, barely able to speak even. I reassured her that I wasn’t going to hurt her and she calmed down a little. As I looked at her, I then noticed something around her neck, a collar of sorts. I pointed to the collar and offered to try and remove it for her; it looked very uncomfortable and I was sure she wasn’t wearing it willingly. She tried to stifle a tear and gave a nod. I tried my best to be gentle as I was still twice my normal size due to the spell. I fumbled with the collar but eventually got a good grasp on it. As I tried to remove it, a sharp pain ran through my fingers as the woman suddenly began to convulse. I quickly removed my hands as I watched the woman fall to the ground, dead from the electricity coursing through her body. I just stood there in disbelief, appalled at what I had just unwillingly done.

I slumped to the ground, unable to move as I dwelled on the innocent soul I had just accidentally killed; I only wanted to help her, but instead, I ended her life. As I sat there, things elsewhere in the arena began to get more dire. The necromancer that was standing up with the GM resurrected the dead civilians and turned them into zombies. The barmaid’s body began to twitch as I broke out of my stupor. My eyes widened as I saw her reanimate and began to stand up. I couldn’t bring myself to draw my weapon and kill her again. I just froze and thought to myself that this was an ironic case of karma. Fortunately, someone else took care of her but the sight of seeing the poor barmaid die again nearly made me sick.

Before I knew it, the rest of the group finished off the zombies and secured the area. As I looked around, only about a third of the civilians had survived to the end. By then, I was back to my normal size which was a relief. I walked over to the others while trying to get a grip on myself, avoiding the sight of dead townsfolk scattered all around us. We congregated in the center of the arena along with the civilians, keeping a watchful eye out for anymore threats that could possible pop up without any warning.

As we stood there, the announcer’s voice came back to our ears as he congratulated us on our victory, though, I’d hardly consider what we did a victory. Then he gave us an ultimatum: kill the civilians so we could go free or return to the barracks to continue fighting so the civilians go free. The choice was clear as day in my mind, and I suppose most of the others were on the same wavelength. I eyed the troublemakers in our group to make sure they weren’t going to try anything and attack the civilians again, but they didn’t seem to be making a move. As the gate leading down into the bowels of the arena opened, we began making our way back into the barracks, allowing the civilians to live and go free. At least, that was what we hoped was going to happen to them.

Before joining the rest of the group, I turned back to the group of townsfolk and looked to the young, blonde girl that was part of the group I had saved. I stepped towards her and unsheathed my dagger, handing it over to her. I told her to do whatever she thought was best before turning back around and following the others into the barracks. I don’t quite remember what I meant by that, whether it was to use the knife to defend herself in case the GM was lying or to take her own life in case the alternative was much much worse. Either way, I meant to put her life back in her own hands and that knife, at least I hoped, allowed her to do so. Anyway, after the brief exchange with the girl, I found myself back in the barracks with the other prisoners, forced to fight another day.

While everyone was taking care of their post-fight activities, I found myself in the possession of a magical sword that the party had found somewhere. I can’t remember how they got it or who gave it to me. I think they got it from when the delved into the hidden dungeon they found in my cell. Either way, all I remember is that it was called the Axel Sword and had magical properties, like being able to summon an ice paraelemental. I think this was also when the group talked with the Champion about escaping again about. While we were fighting in the arena, he’d just been meandering about down here, coming up with a plan to make our escape. I think they set a timetable of the next day or the day after during that meeting. I don’t remember attending the meeting exactly and just went to bed, hearing the details of it late from someone else.

The next morning, I paid the shopkeep a visit to make some last-minute purchases before the others decided to enact their plan to escape. When the time came, I wanted to be as prepared as possible despite our limited supply situation. I bought myself some new clothes, ones that weren’t all cut up and battle-worn. I also got a new belt with a pouch for storing small items. I’m glad I bought all that when I did because as I was purchasing everything from the shop, a giant snake got loose from the creature holding area and went on a rampage. It broke into the barracks where our rooms were then proceeded to plow through until it found itself out in the middle of the arena. I almost got taken out by the thing as I stood in front of the merchant’s window, but fortunately the shopkeep pulled me out of the way. I just watched in amazement as it slithered by before turning back and finishing the transaction with the merchant.

Before I knew it, the others decided to take advantage of the fortuitous situation and began their escape by just improvising. A couple of them killed the guards guarding the giant hole the large snake made earlier. At the same time, someone grabbed the shopkeep through the little exchange window and pulled him straight through to our side of it, breaking a few of his bones and scratching him up horribly. I was completely unprepared for what was going on as I just watched the shopkeep writhe in pain on the ground while the party all stood around him and interrogated him. Eventually, the others got all the information they needed from the man before taking his battered body and hiding it in the secret dungeon entrance they found in my room.

After taking care of him, the party ransacked his shop for weapons, armor, and any supplies that would be helpful during our escape. Even though I was against harming the poor guy the way that they did, I surely wasn’t against looting his wares. I picked up the best longsword I could get my hands on and a few other items before following the party out the back door and into the arena stands.

The stands were full to our surprise even though we were scheduled to fight, or at last, I didn’t think we were. They were all watching the giant snake that was still on the loose down below, killing guards one by one that we were sent in to subdue it. Dispersed throughout the crowd of spectators were guards who also seemed to be distracted by the spectacle in the arena. While everyone had their attention focused on the snake, we decided to try our hand at sneaking passed the crowd and guards to escape, but that was easier said than done. Unfortunately, being famous and well-known also meant you were more easily recognized, which was what happened to us. I can’t remember who was recognized first -probably Freya- but our cover was eventually blown and we had to resort to fighting our way through. Half the party got separated when the fighting started, but we all fought our way to the other side of the arena where the GM’s viewing stand was and rendezvoused.

Once we were back together, we burst into the restricted area and came across the source of the magical barrier surrounding the arena; Moros and Roan made quick work of that, destroying the device and clearing a path to the GM up above. After taking care of a few more guards, we proceeded onwards deeper into the VIP section of the arena. We came across a few fancy, rich patrons but we decided not to kill them and instead told them to get lost. Our quarrel wasn’t with them but with the GM and his staff. Heading further up, we encountered the damn necromancer that helped the GM with some of his presentations. He was the prick who helped organize the fight where I got eaten by that Gibbering Mouther and the fight where those poor townsfolk were turned into zombies. I hated that guy, hated him so much. Seeing as how this was going to be a difficult fight, I finally decided to try out my new sword, the Axel Sword. I gripped the sword firmly and summoned an ice paraelemental; however, by the time I figured out how to summon the thing, the others had taken care of the necromancer and the chain golem he had summoned. Afterwards, I think someone told me that Freya got the final hit on the necromancer with one of her acid arrows and that Roan finished off the chain golem.

Anyway, after taking care of him -with no help from me unfortunately- we rushed to get to the viewing balcony where the GM was. When we got there, it was just a couple of guards which we easily dispatched. Looking around, we saw an escape passageway off to the side and hurried to catch up with the GM before he got away. We went down the winding corridors and eventually caught up to the fat bastard. Once he saw us, he grabbed the closest person he could to defend himself with. He held a knife to a little girl’s throat and used her as a human shield, but that didn’t stop our half-elf archer from shooting him right between the eyes with a well-placed arrow.

And just like that, it was over. The posh spectators that were surrounding him didn’t give us any trouble as we exacted our revenge on the GM. I took a dagger and stabbed his corpse in the heart; it felt pretty good to be honest. Our Dragonborn friend had other plans for him which I’m glad I got my revenge in before his. He took the corpse and swung him around, sending him flying into the arena in which the giant snake leapt up and ate him midair in one fell swoop. Much to our surprise, the crowd cheered at that, though I’m not sure they knew who the man was, or even if they did, if they even cared. But what was done was done. We had our revenge and we were that much closer to being free. Now all we needed to do was find an exit.


	2. Our First Dungeon

After looking around, we found another corridor which led to an emergency exit out of the arena and followed it. Once we passed a certain threshold, all the magical items that were given to the party by the mystical being they found in the hidden dungeon disappeared, including my Axel sword. I was very disappointed at that. I never got to use the damn thing! But no problem. I had a backup sword to use in its stead.

At the end of the passage, we came across a lone guard manning the emergency exit. He recognized us, but luckily, we were able to talk our way passed him without any bloodshed. The next two guards weren’t so lucky. We got passed him and came across two more guards who didn’t seem as gullible as he was, so we cut them down with extreme prejudice. They were a bit harder than previous guards we had encountered, but the party made short work of them. I managed to salvage some chainmail off one of them which was good; I was severely lacking in armor as all I had on was a worn-out set of leather armor.

Continuing on, we hit a fork in the path. At that point, Lireal and Roan decided to go one way while we went down the other. I’m not sure what caused us to split up, but we just did. At the end of our path, there was quite the surprise. We came across a shallow pool in an open cavern. The immediate area in front of us was well furnished and lacking any guards from what we could tell. The most interesting thing, though, were the three scantily clad women in and around the pool. Their names were Lydia, Tiffany, and Sh’piffany whom we just called Piff. They seemed to be nothing but playthings for the GM; wonder what they did when the GM wasn’t around. Some of the party decided to talk to them, while I continued to explore a little. I headed into their bedroom and found nothing of note… besides some intriguing underwear, but it wasn’t my style. While we meandered around, Torinn pulled down one of the religious statues there on a whim. It appeared he wasn’t a huge fan of religious icons and imagery. When we decided to leave, Moros took the pool girl, Piff, under his wing while the other two decided to follow me on our way to freedom.

The next room we came across was a kitchen, probably for the pool girls and others left down there for the GM’s amusement. There were some freshly made sweetrolls, so I took one as a snack. It was really good, actually the first taste of real food since becoming a prisoner in the arena. After the kitchen, we found ourselves in the GM’s secret study. While searching around for anything worth taking, I came across a curious ledger on his desk, one that outlined the prisoners taken for the colosseum and how much their possessions went for when they were sold. I immediately searched for the entry on me and eventually came upon it. I was quite disappointed to see that all my stuff had been sold and there was nothing left, so I ripped out the page on me to keep as a memento of what I had lost and what I had become.

After leaving the study, we couldn’t find any other passageway to continue down and found ourselves stuck on top of a waterfall. Seeing as how there was no other way to go, we decided to go over the waterfall with the hopes of finding a way out at the bottom of it. The other members of the party jumped into the water first followed by Tiffany and Lydia. I was last to go along with Piff who was a bit hesitant about jumping in. Losing my patience, I just pushed her in then went in right after her. On the way down, I scraped my arm but it wasn’t too bad.

Once we got out of the water, we were engaged by three small spiders led by a Drider. We immediately fought them in combat and I even managed to kill one of the small spiders and get the finishing blow on the Drider. It was rather hard moving in soaked clothing and armor, but I managed, as I always did.

After killing the spiders and the Drider, we continued on and came to a steep ledge that led down to a river or aqueduct. There was a pulley system that went straight down to the area below along with a narrow ledge that led down as well. Torinn and the others chose to go down the narrow ledge, but one of them (I think Torinn) slipped and fell down into the water below. Once he came back to the surface of the water, he was attacked by three water hags as he managed to get himself over to small boat hitched at the dock. Everyone else quickly went to his aid while I stayed with the pool girls to make sure they didn’t get into any trouble. I was sure Torinn and the rest of the group could handle themselves, so I didn’t bother worrying. While the others fought off the water hags, I herded the civilians over to the pulley system to get them down safely when the fighting was over. I may have let the barmaid down in the arena, but I wasn’t going to fail these lovely ladies.

The party eventually took care of the water hags and positioned the boat beneath the lift. I was able to get one of the gals down using the lift, but it began to creak and eventually ceased to function. The one on the lift made it to the boat safely but that left me and two of the other girls still up top. Seeing no other way down, the two girls alongside me gracefully dove into the water below, getting on the boat with the help of the others. As I was the last one to go, I prepared to join them but slipped as I was about to jump, falling off instead as I clumsily plummeted into the water below. After surfacing, I heaved myself onto the boat with an annoyed grumble, smelling of the stinking sewage that was mixed with the water in the aqueduct. Once we were all on the boat, we rowed away and went down the river for quite a while as we left the colosseum behind us.

When the day began to get late, we docked the boat on the side of the river and set up camp. We had been on the water for a few hours, so we figured we were far enough from the arena and safe for the moment. It was weird to finally have a night with some relative peace and quiet. I remember sleeping very well that night. In the morning, it was right back to rowing on the water.


	3. Freedom Isn’t Ever Free

After a few more hours of rowing, we happened upon a small fishing village that seemed relatively safe enough. We parked the boat at the docks nearby and got off. I helped Tiffany and Lydia off the boat and moved off to the side to let the others on the docks as well. I turned to the two swimsuit-clad women and told them they were finally free and could do whatever they pleased. I looked them over, seeing that they were still in their skimpy slave attire, and recommended that they follow me to see if there was a general merchant around. The others did their own thing while I went around the town searching for a place to buy the two gals some supplies. Eventually, I came across the town’s general merchant and went inside with Tiffany and Lydia.

Once inside, I got an awkward passing glance from the shopkeep as Lydia and Tiffany came in after me. I quickly looked around to gauge the merchandise then went over to him to purchase a few things. First thing first was getting the two some new clothes to wear instead of their revealing outfits. I got them a pair of traveler’s clothes to change into while I purchased the rest of their gear. I also got them each an explorer’s pack, which had basic adventuring gear like a mess kit and tinder, and a shortsword to defend themselves with. Early on, I wasn’t concerned with personal wealth, so spending all the gold I earned in the arena on them wasn’t a hard choice for me. I was still in the mindset of “protecting the unfortunate” or whatnot, but later on, I began to become a bit more self-centered, but that’s something for later. After Tiffany and Lydia got changed, I handed them their new gear and herded them outside.

The two of them put on their backpacks and secured their swords at their sides. Once they were ready, I gave them a very brief tutorial on sword-handling, meaning I told them where the pointy end was and to be careful around it. After they were settled in with their new equipment, I told them they could either follow us or go on their own way. They thought it over for a second then decided to tackle their newfound freedom on their own. I bid them farewell and wished them lucked before leaving to find the others in my group. I saw a few of them head towards the town pub, so I made my way over there to regroup with them.

I found them inside and we all had some food and a couple drinks before relaxing in the adjacent bathhouse. It was separated by gender, so there was no tomfoolery that happened, at least, that I know of. It was extremely relaxing, considering I had been living in basically a jail cell for however long it had been. That, and I had recently just took a swim in a disgusting sewer of sorts. During my time in the baths, I just let my tired and achy body soak and rest while I still had the chance. After our relaxing baths, we turned in for the night and got a good night’s rest. I had my own room so I could rest easy and comfortably without having to share. I deserved a peaceful night for once.

In the morning, we all met up for breakfast and talked about our continued escape from our captors and what to do next. The group decided on taking a small quest for the town and hunt down a group of bandits in order to attain a bit more funds before moving onward. While the others left on the job, I decided to stay back with the one slave girl that wanted to stay with us, Piff. Moros had decided to take her on as an apprentice or something and wanted someone to teach her how to use a sword. Since I was so skilled with a blade, I decided to instruct her on the basics of swordplay while the others went to kill the bandits in the meantime.

While we were training, we saw some guards with the same insignias as those back in the arena. Whoever they were, they didn’t seem friendly. They were coming closer to the town so we had to lay low until they went away. It was just me and Piff so there was no way we could take them on with just ourselves, a wannabe knight and former slave girl. It’d mostly just be me anyway if it came to a fight since Piff was still in training. Luckily, the local barkeep kept us safe while the guards roamed the town in search of me and the rest of the party. Eventually, the guards left the town before the others returned victorious from their mission. Once we were all back together, we collected our reward and left the town to try and find our missing comrades, Lireal and Roan.

Eventually and much to my surprise, we found Lireal and Roan safe and sound without having to search very hard. Lireal was accompanied by an owl familiar named Frederick and they all seemed to be okay. Once we were all happily back together again, we continued on down the road to the next town. Along the way, we happened to come upon two travelers caught in a dangerous encounter.

There was a male human ranger by the name of Corbbett and a female Asimar rogue named Hikari. They were fighting a dangerous creature called a Glabrezu and weren’t doing all that well on their own. I stayed back to protect Piff while the others forged on ahead to aid the two strangers struggling against the demon. After a brief fight, the rest of my party and the two strangers killed the demon and secured the area. When it was all calm, Corbbett explained himself and his purpose for being out there. Now, I can’t rightly remember what his quest was exactly, but after his explanation, the others and I agreed to help him on his quest anyway.

Once we were all in agreement, we set up camp there to rest for the night. In the morning, we left to see where that creature came from, hoping to find its lair and possibly some treasure along the way. We followed its path of destruction to where it started and came upon an abandoned camp. It was deserted and lacking any signs of life, so we looked around for any clues about what happened there. While we were searching, we came across a mysterious red stone. It was a magical item and seemed to be very powerful according to our more magically familiar party members. Moros touched the stone and kept it for safe keeping. Corbbett thanked us for helping him out, but he and Hikari had to leave to attend to other business. We bid them farewell and they went on their way. After clearing the camp, we all headed back to the fishing village where we first docked the boat to resupply and rest.

When we got back to the town, we took care of any errands we had and asked around for information on the mysterious red stone or orb we had just discovered. Someone then found out that there was possibly someone with information for us located in some place called Lake Town or something. I really wasn’t all that invested with all the magical stuff, so finding out more about the dinky red rock wasn’t high on my priority list. I just wanted to get some answers about why I was arrested and forced to fight in that infernal arena. I thought to myself that perhaps by sticking with this group, I could find out more, so I decided to follow along with whatever they were up to in order to further my own goals. Once we were ready, we headed out towards the mysterious Lake Town someone had mentioned.

Along the way, we encountered a dead traveling merchant and two Bullywugs. I got hit by one of those slimy pricks when we were fighting but the others finished them off with no problem. Once the area was clear, we searched the site for anything useful but didn’t find anything of note, or at least, I don’t remember doing so.

It was getting late, so we set up camp for the night to rest and get some sleep. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get out of watch duty this time and got stuck with the last watch. We had decided to take two-hour shifts so four of us were picked during the eight hour sleep period to stand guard. During my turn, it started to rain a little but it wasn’t too bad. When everyone was awake, Lireal went off to find some food and shared what she found with all of us. After a quick breakfast, we packed up and continued on our way to Lake Town. Before we left though, Moros told us that he was splitting off from the group to take Piff to the capital city. He was going to enroll her in a bard’s college where she could start her new life and hopefully become a bard. Jasper said she was going to leave as well and accompany them as some added protection. Once we said our goodbyes, they left to head off on their separate way, heading towards the capital.

The rest of us continued on our way and didn’t encounter anything remarkable before having to set up camp again for the night. Lireal and Freya went to scavenge some food from our immediate surroundings. Eventually, they came back with a deer which Roan skillfully cooked for us for dinner. From what I recall, it wasn’t half bad for some home-cooking in the woods. When it was time for bed, I got picked up again for watch duty; I had the last shift again, which I didn’t mind too much but would have still preferred a full night’s sleep.

During the second watch shift, Lireal had encountered something in the middle of the night and alerted us to it, waking us all up. It turned out to be nothing but a gaunt looking goblin wanting some of our food. Once I realized we weren’t in any immediate danger, I went back to sleep to get some more rest before my shift. When my shift eventually came along, I remember hearing something in the bushes and readying my sword, but nothing came of it.

When it was morning and after breakfast, we continued on down the trail again. Along the way, we encountered a strange, cloaked figure, but Torinn intimidated him into buzzing off. A little later, we encountered a group of gypsies that sold exotic goods and alcohol. Of course, we had to stop and check out their wares since we had a certain party member on the hunt for any magical item he could get his hands on and afford. While the others were looking at all the magical novelties, I bought myself a backpack and 50ft of hempen rope, two things that surely would be more helpful than the pink invisibility dust they bought at a preposterous price. We decided to stay with the gypsies for the remainder the day and into the night. Some of the others partook in alcohol and other merriment during our down time, but that wasn’t the scene for me. While they were gallivanting about, I just took care of my gear and prepared myself for the next day of traveling. I had to keep my guard up and not let my defenses down. We were fugitives on the run, after all.

In the morning, we went our separate ways from the gypsies and continued down the trail to the supposed location of Lake Town. On the road, we encountered a suspicious man hauling a cart full of what appeared to be dead bodies. Seeing as how that was an odd sight, we stopped to question the man about what he was doing and where he was headed. He said that the merchant settlement up the road had been raided and that he was moving the bodies that were collected in the aftermath. While he was talking, Roan noticed one of the bodies was still alive, but barely. It was a female Tabaxi and she introduced herself as Grass. She was pretty beat up, but the magic users healed her up using healing spells and whatnot. After talking with her, she decided to accompany us in order to get her things back from the orcs that raided the settlement.

After she was in a stable condition and able to move, we continued on down the road with her accompanying us. We eventually encountered the settlement where the man pulling the cart came from. There were guards around cleaning up the aftermath of the raid. We entered the settlement to see if we could help while Grass looked around for her missing gear. While the others were looking around, I took it upon myself to inquire about why this was allowed to happen in the first place.

I searched around for the guard in charge and sought him out. Wasn’t it their job to prevent this kind of thing from happening, I thought to myself at the time. Seeing such unnecessary destruction and death sickened me to my stomach. Back then, I was all about protecting the innocent at all costs, though it was such a naïve outlook. When I finally found the guard in charge, I berated him for not protecting the settlement better and allowing the raid to happen. I also asked where the orcs came from so that the others in my group and I could possibly take care of the problem ourselves, since the guards were so inept to do it in the first place. As we were getting in each other’s faces, the others came by to back me up. After several insults, we eventually got the information we needed out of the guard. While we were talking, we also negotiated a reward for taking out the orcs when we found them. Before heading out, we took a short rest to take care of any last minute tasks.

Once we were ready, we left to hunt down the orcs that raided the settlement and killed so many innocent lives. After searching through the woods, we eventually came upon the location of the orc camp. While I waited with Torinn in the safety of cover, Roan, Lireal, Grass, and Freya went ahead to scope it out. When they came back, they relayed what they saw, saying that there were seven orcs in the camp, armed to the teeth. After we were all on the same wavelength, we prepared our attack on the orc camp and waited for the signal. We then launched a surprise attack on the camp and easily wiped the orcs all out. After the fight was won, we secured the area before moving on to claim our spoils. While the others looted the camp, I found some supply crates that were stolen from the merchant’s settlement. I used my rope and strung them all together to be brought back to them and maybe get some sort of reward. Before heading back to town, we set up camp to rest since it was getting late.

During the night, Roan encountered a disturbance and woke us all up. I was feeling rather cranky so when I got up, I just drew my sword and confronted whatever was causing all the commotion. It was another orc, but it was smaller than the ones we just encountered. I ended up intimidating him into just going away by showing him what we did to his pals. After the orc left, I went straight back to bed before I was summoned again for the last watch shift.

In the morning, we headed back to the settlement to collect our reward and drop off the supplies I had salvaged. When we got back, I sold the crates of supplies I lugged all the way back for a mere 20 gold coins. After collecting the reward for all that, I made my way over to the guard commander along with the rest of the group. Torinn had decapitated the orc war chiefs’ heads and handed them to the guard as proof of our success. As a result, we were each given 50 gold coins for our troubles and to thank us on a job well done. He also confiscated some goods from a shady merchant for us to split amongst ourselves as an additional thanks. Once we were done with our business at the settlement, we continued on towards the Lake Town with our pockets full of gold.


	4. Wet and Wild

On the way there, we encountered a merchant and his wife but didn’t bother interacting with him since he had a slave accompanying them. The party, me included, weren’t too keen on the notion of slavery or talking with people who had slaves.

Eventually, we came across a town which wasn’t Lake Town but instead Lireal’s hometown called Y’lasera. The area was dark and unusually quiet for a town of its size which was unsettling. Torinn thought the town was abandoned and kicked down a door to the first house he saw. Unfortunately for him, the house was very much occupied and Lireal had to diffuse the situation before the guards were called in to restore order. After that incident was taken care of, we were greeted by the mayor of the town and Lireal’s brother.

Lireal was happy to see her brother and they all talked and caught up on things, eventually moving the conversation to the mayor’s home. I had no idea what was going on so I just followed the others as we walked through the town. Their conversation revealed that a monster had been plaguing the town and causing the river that ran through the middle of it to overflow. As the water level rose, several portions of the town became flooded and it was a real nuisance. While they continued talking, I stepped out onto the balcony and just looked around, keeping an eye out for the supposed creature. Later on, Lireal and Roan left to meet the rest of her family while the others and I looked around the flooded town. There really wasn’t much to do as all the flooded sections had been evacuated, meaning all the businesses affected by the water were also closed down as well.

Later on, the rest of the group and I rendezvoused at the tavern to prepare our next move. It seemed that most of the town’s denizens had taken shelter there since most of the town was flooded with water overflowing from the river. Among them was the town’s blacksmith whom I had met earlier. I gave him the chainmail armor I looted from a guard in the arena earlier and asked him to turn it into a chainmail shirt. The full armor was just too bulky to wear and I figured since we were going to be around water for a while, I didn’t need to be weighed down by excessive weight. After everyone was done taking care of their business around the tavern, we left to get some rest before taking care of the town’s problem the next day. Most of us stayed at the mayor’s home for the night while Lireal and Roan stayed with her family.

In the morning, we all met back up and prepared to solve the river monster problem, with force even if we had to. We headed out to the supposed epicenter of the problem and looked around for the cause of the flooding. Once we were in position, we awakened the beast behind the flooding and prepared to take it out once and for all. A giant Water Elemental and Earth Elemental rose from the river’s depths along with three Water Weirds. Fortunately, we were all given the ability to walk on water thanks to a spell someone in the group cast. After a hard-fought battle, we were able to rid the town of the nuisance and return the river’s water level to normal limits.

Once this was all over with, we healed ourselves up and dispersed to take care of some personal tasks before moving on. Lireal talked with her family and the mayor to inform them of our success to which they were very thankful of our efforts. The party also found a bounty board of sorts and picked out our next mission since we decided we were going to stay a while. After picking out a bounty, I decided to do some errands for myself before we left. I shopped around and got a waterskin and some rations for the upcoming journey. Once I had what I needed, I got a room at the tavern and turned in for the night to get some rest.

In the morning, I went down for breakfast with the others and encountered what the locals called “juice”. I had some eggs, toast, and ordered banana juice as my drink. The eggs and toast were just fine, but… the drink was much to be desired. Instead of a refreshing glass of normal banana juice, like what you could normally get on Broken Crescent Island where I’m from, they took some bananas, mashed it up, and mixed it in a cup with some water. To be honest, it was rather gross. Begrudgingly, I finished as much as I could of the poor excuse for a cup of juice as to not offend the barmaid. After breakfast, we headed out to take care of the contract we picked up from the bounty board.


	5. What is Dead May Never Die

Our next mission was to investigate a problem in a nearby small mining town called Cronshaw. Along the road there, we encountered a few enemies but they were swiftly dispatched. It was a Dryad and two large spiders. I may have had a little difficulty during the fight by becoming confused by the Dryad via a spell or something, but the others picked up my slack and killed it before it could do any major damage. After that, we continued on and set up camp when it began to get late. Like the past few times, I had the last watch shift in which nothing of note occurred. Thank goodness.

In the morning, it was back at it again as we continued on along the road. When we arrived at the town, we found that it was rather quiet and empty at first impression. There was no movement and no signs of an immediate struggle. I drew my sword and kept my wits about me, just waiting to get ambushed or something. We kept up our guard and headed towards the most likely place to find someone if they were still around, the tavern. Inside, we found most of the townsfolk there hiding in fear of something. When we went in, we found the barmaid and talked with her to get some information on the town's situation. While we talked, we decided to order some food to chow down on in the meantime. It turned out that there was a problem with the local mine. A mysterious evil had taken it over and was causing dangerous working conditions for the miners, so they abandoned the site. We agreed to check it out, so after we were finished eating, we headed out to see what was up.

At the mine's entrance, we found ourselves faced with a locked door. Instead of trying to ask around for the key that opened it, Torinn had to be the macho man he was and attempted to kick down the door. Unfortunately, the door was way too sturdy for even him and he ended up injuring his ankle in the process. While he was getting his ankle healed up, I walked up to the door and just tried to open it like a normal person but it was indeed locked. Thanks to our newest member though, she was able to jimmy the lock with a lockpick or some similar tool and got it unlocked.

Once the door was open, we readied our weapons and headed inside to take care of whatever was plaguing the townsfolk of Cronshaw. A little way into the mine, we were attacked by six or so Ghasts followed by a Wraith and a couple Specters. It was a tough fight, but we managed to fend them off. We were a bit worn out after that, so we took a quick break outside to rest and recover before heading deeper into the mine.

After our break, we went back inside and ended up against a group of twelve zombies further in. The fight was rather unremarkable except for one particular instance. There was one memorable moment that had stuck with me from that encounter. Freya, being the crackshot archer that she was, somehow ended up shooting me in the back with one of her arrows during the fight. I'm not sure what she blamed the blunder on, but at least it wasn't a serious wound or else I would've been much more disappointed.

The fighting had lasted a bit longer than expected and before we knew it, it was late in the afternoon or early evening. We were battered and bruised, so we decided to go back to the inn to heal our wounds and recover before going further. After that, then we’d continue in the morning. It wasn't like we were in any rush or anything, at least, that was what we told ourselves. Little did we know, there was quite the reason to hurry.

The next day, we marched on back into the mine and continued with clearing it out little by little. Luckily, the things we killed the day before stayed dead, which was nice. It would’ve sucked immensely if we had to, for some reason, fight them again. But nope. They dead. Eventually, we came to a deep crevice that temporarily blocked our path. Fortunately, I came prepared so we used my rope to descend down into it in a safe manner. As we ventured deeper in, we came across some non-natural structures that turned out to be ruins of some kind. Down below, we ended up in a storeroom of sorts with sacks of potatoes and other foodstuffs kept there.

Seeing as we didn't know what we had come across, we decided to take a stealthy approach until we figured out what was going on. Grass took one of the potato sacks and tried to use it as a disguise. Her thinking was that if she was spotted by something or someone while traversing through the halls, she'd just withdraw into the sack and remain still on the ground, posing as a non-threatening sack of potatoes. I found it rather odd, but I guess that was just what rogues did. Before we were about to check out our immediate surroundings, Torinn also decided to use the potato sack disguise. At that point, I was rather perplexed. I could see it working on Grass since she was small and could easily fit fully into the sack if she crouched down. But Torinn? It looked absolutely ridiculous as the sack just looked like some sort of hooded tunic on him. I'm not sure if I did or not at the time, but I'm sure I rolled my eyes at that.

Once they were ready, Grass and Torinn led the way as we did our best to sneakily walk down the halls of the ruins. As we looked around, we encountered Drow roaming the halls, which was odd, so we remained undetected as long as we could until we could get a better hold on the situation. Eventually, we came across someone we couldn’t have guessed to find down there. Inside a room, we found Moros chained up and looking pretty beat up. He looked as if he was dying from his wounds and severe exhaustion; that was how bad of a condition he was in. We quickly came to his aid and set him free, asking if he remembered how he got there in the first place.

Moros explained that while he was searching for clues about the orb in the capital, he was kidnapped and tortured by his abductors. He couldn't remember everything and we weren't exactly in the safest of spots to be catching up on things. He quickly gathered up his gear, most of which was in disarray and soiled by his Drow captors, much to his displeasure. Just outside the room, Freya was keeping watch and eventually had to engage a Drow that was getting too close using her bow.

With our clover blown, we prepared to fight our way out. The next Drow we encountered used a poison spell before taking us head on in a fight., though, he had no idea what he was getting himself into. We quickly overpowered the Drow with Torinn grappling him and subduing him using his pink fuzzy manacles. We dragged him back into the dungeon that Moros was imprisoned in and began to get our revenge, or rather, Moros' revenge. He took one of the burning torture tools that the Drow had used on him and decided to give him a taste of his own medicine. Unfortunately for the Drow we had in our captivity, he happened to be the same one who did a lot of Moros' torturing and was even the one who soiled his belongings by peeing on them. Bad move on his part. Moros took the tool and shoved it up the poor Drow's rectum which was a sight I really didn't need to see but saw nonetheless. After that, Torinn, uh… waterboarded the guy... with his urine. Utterly vile.

Soon after that, three more Drow arrived on the scene to see what the commotion was all about. With speed and precision, we took them out with no problem at all. This was where I got the Drow ritual knife that used to be in my collection. One of the first pieces actually. After taking care of them, we investigated our surroundings for a way out. During our search, we found a Drow chapel but there was nothing of use in there. We then found ourselves in the main chamber of the ruins and encountered four more Drow including the leader of the group.

We stared each other down, but before we could get into an all-out battle, the Drow captain spoke out and challenged the strongest of us to a duel, which by physical appearances was Torinn, but in my personal opinion was probably Lireal or Moros since they were heavily magic users and had some pretty powerful spells. Torinn agreed to the duel and so we remained on the sidelines, as did the Drow captain's men, and watched. It was somewhat close, but the Drow captain obviously didn't know what our blood-thirsty Dragonborn could do. He made quick work of the captain which caused his subordinates to flee without a fight. After it was over, we looted the room and secured the area. This was where I got my custom Drow breastplate from. I looted it off the Drow captain, but of course, I had to get it repaired and fitted first which I did later on.

Now, I was probably supposed to keep this a secret, but oh well. Moros isn't here and you won't tell anyone, right? From the main chamber, we could see a large underground sea. For real, a large body of water that a ship could sail on- but underground. Anyway, there was a dock there and a little way off, a schooner or small galleon docked at the end. The Drow that fled boarded the ship and soon after, the ship began to set sail. Now this didn't set well with Moros as he had gained an unhealthy hatred of all things Drow, or at least, at the time he did. Not wanting the Drow to escape, he hurled a firebolt full of hatred and malice right at the wooden ship which set it ablaze. Normally, this wouldn't have been a problem, but I remember hearing from someone or whatnot that the ship was mostly occupied by Drow non-combatants such as elderly and even children. At first, I wanted to reprimand Moros for committing such a heinous act, but seeing him looking at the burning ship with his ruthless expression, I decided to bite my tongue or else end up like them.

After resting for a bit after the battle, we only had one more room to check. It was a good thing we took the opportunity to rest because on the other side of that last door was perhaps our toughest challenge up until that point. When we entered the room, we came across a very powerful necromancer, the one we assumed was the cause of the corruption up in the mine above and the source of the town's plight. After confronting the necromancer, we ended up in a fight for our lives. It was a tough battle, a very tough battle. The necromancer had a large magical cauldron that kept pumping out skeletons to make the fight severely harder for us. At one point, everyone except me and Freya were at death's door as we tried to retreat out of the room, but we managed to get them on their feet and back in the fight. In the end, Torinn and Moros executed a tag-team attack that finished off the necromancer for good, also ending the never-ending flood of skeleton soldiers as well.

Once it was all finally over, we left the necromancer's chambers and regrouped in the main chamber. We gave the area one last search for anything useful then left the mine through the way we came. We made our way to the tavern in Cronshaw and informed everyone that the threat in the mine had been taken care of. We told them about the ruins there and that it was, more or less, safe. When we got back, we spoke with whoever posted the job and asked for a reward for our efforts. In return for our services, we each received 100 gold coins, a room for the night, and free food for the duration of our stay from the man in-charge of the town. After everything was taken care of, I just took it easy once I got back to the tavern. It had been a long day and I was rather tired. I cleaned myself up, had some dinner, and then retired to my room for the rest of the night. I slept pretty well if I remember correctly.


	6. The Second Orb

The next day, we had our free breakfast then headed back to Lireal's hometown. Torinn had decided to stay in Cronshaw as the town's mayor. I'm not sure what compelled him to do that but we wished him the best of luck regardless. Before we left, he returned the red orb he had been holding on to while Moros was in the capital. Halfway back to Y’lasera, we had to set up camp to rest for the night. Nothing too interesting happened and I had last watch like usual. During the second half of the trip back, we encountered a pack of six Dire Wolves which was different, but the group took them out no problem.

When we got back to Lireal's hometown, it looked more like a normal town than when we first arrived there. It was a lot livelier and a lot less flooded. While Lireal went to report back to the mayor and her family, the others and I did our own thing. I left to go take care of some of my own personal errands.

The first task at hand was to find someone who could fix and fit the newly looted breastplate I had to my figure. The town armorer seemed up to the task and it was going to cost 150 gold coins to do it. It’d take a few days, so I left it with him and went to find a merchant to buy some new clothes. I wandered around and came across a general merchant to get myself a new outfit. I also bought a hammock so I didn't have to continue sleeping on the ground. I wonder why it took me so long to finally buy one. For the rest of the day, the others and I just unwound and relaxed after saving Moros from his kidnappers in Cronshaw. We decided to stay in the town for the rest of the day and checked-in at the tavern for the night.

In the morning, we met another familiar face that we hadn't seen in a while. Jasper was at the tavern, drunk as usual but alive at least. When she sobered up, she explained that she had been searching all around for Moros after he disappeared. We then told her about his abduction and the story behind his rescue. After that, we prepared to continue our journey towards Lake Town in search of information about the orbs. Before we left, the party wanted to buy an ox and a cart to lessen the amount of walking we had to do and to help transport our gear. It took 24 gold coins from each of us, and by that, I meant me, Roan, Lireal, Moros, and Jasper; Grass had decided to part ways with us while in Y’lasera, so we didn't include her. Also, before we left, I bought a potion of healing for just in case and picked up my unfinished breastplate since I didn't know when, if ever, I'd be back. I paid the blacksmith for the work he did manage to get done then left to meet up with the others.

As we prepared to move out, we picked up the ox and cart but unfortunately, no one except me knew how to drive it. I knew a little bit about driving oxen and other animals from helping out around the island which, I guess, put me as the most qualified. So I took the reins of the ox and started us off down the road while the others rode in the cart. Jasper had a horse which she rode in on, so she used that instead.

The next twelve hours was rather uneventful and it was difficult staying awake and focused while in the driver’s seat. Sitting there keeping the ox on track was so monotonous, but at least the others' banter was a nice distraction from time to time. As it became dark, we decided to pull over and find a suitable place to set up camp for the night. We found a water source to let the ox drink and parked ourselves around there. Lireal and Freya gathered up some edible plants and animals from around and Roan cooked it all for us. When it was time for bed, I got to skip being put on watch since I was driving the ox and cart all day and needed some rest. Lucky me.

As for the full night's sleep, I didn't quite get that. In the middle of the night, a Displacer Beast dropped down on us during Roan's shift. We all got up and helped kill it. I always hated fighting after just waking up. I was never at my best when I fought half asleep, but as always, I managed.

After breakfast in the morning, we continued on towards the secretive Lake Town that we somehow managed to get a relative location for. Though, the fact that we heard about its existence and were able to be pointed in its direction raised some questions about how it was able to remain so secretive for so long. During one of our breaks from traveling, one of the two rats Roan had adopted back in Y’lasera was killed by Lireal's owl familiar. The owl had grasped it in its claws and dropped it from a high height. Roan was unable to catch the poor thing in time and the little rat hit the ground hard and died. To say that Roan was angry at Lireal for the rest of the trip was a severe understatement.

The closer we got to the town, we begin to see some of its denizens along the road. We asked around about the orbs and if we were headed in the right direction, and by we, I mean those that spoke Elvish; in case you didn't know, I didn't speak Elvish and couldn't understand a single thing anyone was saying. They only spoke Elvish and not Common for some reason, like everyone else in the civilized world. That’s why it was called Common; it was spoken by everyone. Luckily, it turned out we were right on track and one of the locals escorted us to the front gate of the main settlement. As we continued on, it seemed that all of the poor elves were stuck living outside the main city while the rich lived inside its high walls made of trees and wood.

When we got to the gate, we were halted by some of the town's guards. The guards inspected us and the cart while my elven companions talked to them about getting permission to enter the city. We had to wait around a while, waiting for the guards to talk to their superiors on the inside. Once the guards finally gave us permission to enter, they escorted us in while keeping out the poor elves that helped us get there. They kept a close eye on us and led us to the local inn which was called the Vibrant Moss Inn. I parked the ox and cart around back while the others talked with the owner of the inn to hopefully get us some answers and rooms.

Inside, we were welcomed to the town by the uppity innkeeper and given some food for dinner. She explained they didn't get much visitors, being a secret town and all, which begged the question as to why they needed an inn to begin with. I didn’t pay it much attention at the time and just went along with everyone else. After eating, we all went to our rooms to get some sleep. My room was pretty nice despite it being all-natural and made of wood and other fauna. The bed was comfortable which was what mainly counted.

In the morning, we had breakfast at the inn before being led on a tour of the city by one of the guards whose name was John. Thankfully, Freya translated any of the important points that he said during the tour for me. At the end of the tour, we were taken to where the leader of the elven town was, an Elder Seedseer as it were. We were left to wait in her lush garden around noon and when it was time to meet her, we went inside her sanctuary.

The Elder Seedseer's name was Catherine, an old and wise elf who was more or less in-charge of the town's wellbeing. She had a very powerful magical staff with her and on top of it was one of the orbs like the one we had except it was green. When we met, she explained everything, or at least almost everything that we needed to know regarding the strange orbs. There were four orbs in total and they were created to help prevent a major catastrophe from happening. She continued to talk and explain it all but I didn't get much out of it. I only got pieces here and there from what the others told me. To be honest, I really wasn't interested in the history and magical mumbo jumbo anyway. I just wanted to know where they were and who we needed to kill to get them. I was really rash and overly eager back then, in case you couldn’t tell.

After the meeting with Catherine, we went back to the inn to digest everything we were told. During the down time, I had Freya ask the innkeeper if there was a blacksmith in town. I really wanted to get my breastplate finished and figured an all-Elven settlement would have a rather good blacksmith who could do it for me, or at least, that was what my little naïve brain thought at the time. Turned out, the elves there didn't really rely on metal as much as everyone else did. Just one look around the inn could tell someone that. But fortunately for me, they did have a blacksmith in town that could provide some assistance. With that in mind, I wanted to pay him a visit, and thanks to Roan volunteering to lead me there, I did.

When we arrived, Roan left me there to take care of his own business which was somewhat intimidating. I figured I could just backtrack back to the tavern after I was done there, but I still couldn't speak Elvish. Thankfully, the blacksmith spoke Common so I told him about my breastplate and what I wanted to get done with it. He said he could manage and took the unfinished piece of armor from me, saying it would be a couple days before it was done. I thanked him and after that, I made my way back to the tavern, receiving awkward glances from the locals that passed me by.

Back at the inn, I was immediately approached by one of the staff there. She was one of the waitresses, a younger looking elf by the name of Ame. She took me by the hand and led me over to one of the tables, motioning for me to sit down while she sat directly across from me. She seemed nervous and began talking to me in Elvish, which I still didn't understand at all. I tried to tell her I didn't speak Elvish and couldn't understand her, but she kept interrupting me as she nervously continued to talk in a language I couldn't understand. So I just sat there, nodding every now and then as I smiled awkwardly. Eventually, she blushed and got up abruptly, heading back into the kitchen while trying to hide her face. It was a rather odd encounter but an amusing one at least.

I remained at the inn for the rest of the day and when it was time for dinner, we all met back up to eat there. While we ate, the waitress from earlier, Ame, kept staring at me from afar with a nervous look. Lireal noticed and informed me that she thought Ame had a crush on me. Of course, I was rather taken aback as situations like that never happened to me before. I’d never been in a relationship before then and never dealt with all that lovey-dovey stuff either. I asked her if she was sure and she reassured me that Ame indeed had a crush on me. I didn't know what to do with that information, so I just ignored it for time being and played it by ear. After dinner, I went back to my room to sleep, though, I had a hard time since my head was filled with thoughts of someone potentially having a romantic attraction for me.

After waking up, I had a quick bite to eat before heading out to check on the progress of my breastplate at the blacksmith's. I mostly remembered the route there and managed to arrive without too much trouble. Unfortunately, it still wasn't done but it was coming along nicely. After checking in with the blacksmith, I went back to the inn, this time, becoming more familiar with the town’s layout.

When I got back, I decided to find out more about this Ame girl who apparently had some sort of crush on me. I’m not sure what I did or said to warrant that kind of attention, but it just was, I guess. She was kinda cute but I didn't think I was ready for anything long-term, especially if we couldn't understand each other. And I had just met her! I knew nothing about her and I was on a mission a long way from home. If I had gotten involved at that point in time in a relationship, I'm sure it wouldn't have worked. So, I decided to just tell her upfront that it wouldn't be a good idea to get involved with me. While I was at the inn, I poked around for some information and perhaps get her something to lessen the blow of me rejecting her affections. I found the innkeeper and tried to ask her about Ame. She couldn't understand my Common so she had the chef interpret for the both of us. It was an awkward conversation to say the least but I found out that Ame really liked blue flowers. With that in mind, I decided to head out and find some blue flowers to give her as some sort of consolation gift when I broke the news.

Luckily, Freya was around the inn and being a ranger with vast knowledge of nature, I figured I could use her expertise. I asked her if she wanted to help me find some blue flowers for Ame and she agreed. We decided to visit the local florist to see if she had any blue flowers for sale. When we got there, she informed us that she didn't but then told us of a place in the forest where we could possibly find some. We followed her directions and came to a clearing in the woods full of many different types and colors of flowers. We looked around and gathered up some nice-looking blue flowers, enough to form a bouquet. I haphazardly stuffed the flowers into my backpack and headed back to the inn with Freya.

Back at the inn, I found Lireal and Roan sitting at one of the tables together, so I decided to head on over to them to see what was up. When I approached them, I was informed that there was apparently a date set up between me and Ame for later in the evening. I didn't recall ever having a date planned with Ame but they told me it was certainly true. I had never been on a date before and I still had to break the bad news to Ame, so I asked them for help in the situation. Lireal graciously agreed to help me which was odd. It should have sent off some warning signs that she was up to something if she volunteered so willingly. While I waited for the date, I talked with Lireal about what I had intended to say to Ame when they time came.

When it was finally time for our date, Lireal and I met up with Ame and we all sat down at a table together. Prior to meeting, Roan cast a spell on me which allowed me to understand and speak other languages which was just dandy. Wish he cast that a long time ago when we first got there so I didn’t have to worry about all this interpretation stuff. As I prepared to start talking, Lireal interjected by grasping my arm and telling Ame that she and I were actually a couple so Ame had no place in our relationship. Immediately after she said that, I'm sure I had the same surprised and dumbfounded look as Ame did. I turned to Lireal who gave me a reassuring wink, as if this approach was any better than what I had mind. I then looked to Ame who was visibly upset and on the verge of tears. Remembering the bouquet, I reached into my pack and took out the blue flowers which had been crumpled and beat up due to the poor caretaking. As I was about to say they were for Ame to cheer her up, Lireal had to add insult to injury and said something along the lines of the flowers being a gift for her, my apparent romantic partner. Of course, this made me quite flustered as I looked to Lireal then back to Ame who was barely able to keep it together. Caught off guard and needing to keep up the façade, I took the bouquet and split it in two, shakily handing half of the flowers to Lireal and the other half to Ame. Lireal played her part almost too enthusiastically as she took the flowers from me while Ame was even more confused and upset that I was handing her flowers in a poor attempt to make everything less hard to take. Unable to take any more, Ame got up and ran off crying. I was somewhat sorry for the poor girl, but at the moment I was much more relieved than anything. For the remainder of our time there, I did all that I could to avoid seeing her again in order to prevent any potential awkwardness between us. After that poor excuse of a date, I had some food then turned in for the night.

Once I woke up the next morning, I had some breakfast then left to check on my breastplate. It had to be done by then so I went to hopefully go pick it up. When I arrived, the blacksmith retrieved my breastplate and showed off his work. The piece of armor fit perfectly and it was completely repaired of the damage it sustained in battle. It even had my initials (KS) and a little fire symbol engraved on it like I had requested. For his spectacular work, I gave him the 70 gold coins that we agreed upon; I expected nothing less of elven craftsmanship. I took the armor and went back to the tavern to meet up with the others.

When we were all back together, we talked about the assignment that Catherine, the Elder Seedseer from earlier, wanted us to do. She said that if we completed her task, we could have the green orb in her possession. The task was a sort of test to see if we were worthy enough of properly safeguarding the orb. There was a problem with the town's crypt that she wanted us to investigate since she couldn't do so herself; she couldn't leave her sanctuary and didn't want to risk the protection of the green orb. She also didn’t possess the manpower needed to properly take care of the situation so she had to rely on us to do it for her. When we had everything sorted out, we left the inn to head to the mausoleum. Unfortunately, we were a man short as Jasper was passed out drunk at the inn, so we left her behind.

As we approached the mausoleum, we saw that it was built inside a very large dead tree. Around the entrance that led down into it were a band of brigands that were guarding it. Seeing as how they didn’t seem to be from around there, we readied ourselves for a fight as we approached the group. Once the leader revealed himself to us, I tried to intimidate him into just getting out of our way and leaving. It didn't quite work out as well as I had hoped and we ended up fighting them.

In order to get some information, we killed all but the leader of the first group of brigands so we could interrogate him. With his subordinates out of the way, we were able to question the leader without distraction and learned who hired them and what they were up to. Apparently, some anonymous elf nobleman hired them to guard the entrance to the mausoleum for some unknown reason. The brigand leader didn't ask who or why and just did as he was told for the gold. He also told us that he had twelve more men just down inside the mausoleum. The party was about to kill him but I stopped them, allowing them to only break his legs instead. I intended to make an example of him and hopefully use him to force the rest of his men to leave without any more violence. I dragged him to the stairs leading into the mausoleum and tossed him down so that he came into view of the rest of the brigands. After a tense talk, we convinced the rest of the men to cut their losses and leave. The soldiers came out of the mausoleum and went back to wherever they came from, surprisingly leaving the brigand captain behind.

Once it was clear of enemies, we proceeded inside the catacombs to deal with Catherine’s problem. It was a bit dark, so it was a little hard to see where we were going. We headed down a long hallway that had spots in the walls for coffins, which were mostly full. As we were carefully making our way through the passageways, an undead elf popped out of one of the crevices in the walls and attacked Moros. He quickly reacted by hurling a fire bolt into its face which killed it… again. Made it dead once more. After taking care of that, I led the way down the hallway with my sword drawn in case we came across anymore undead things. Along the way, we came across a torch on the wall which I took to help light the way ahead.

During our trek through the catacombs, the floor suddenly caved in which caused us to fall into the chasm it left behind. I caught completely off guard as I suddenly felt myself falling, unable to catch myself. We surprisingly fell for a few stories, getting scratched and bruised along the way until finally ending up in a chamber surrounded by coffins in the walls. After coming to a halt at the bottom, we were immediately attacked by waves of undead before we could barely get back on our feet. There were too many of them for us to fight, so we retreated into the one corridor leading out of the chamber. Once we were through the entryway, the magic users sealed the exit with a wall of ice which seemed to hold the undead back for now. While we had a moment of relative safety, we took a short rest to heal our wounds and figure out where we were exactly. We looked around and saw an odd-looking black door at the end of the corridor we were in. Besides the wall of ice behind us, that was the only way to go.

We approached the door and inspected it to see what its deal was. It wasn’t a normal door and it looked very different from the aesthetic of the mausoleum and the elven town nearby. I can't remember who it was who first touched the door, but someone did and it began to slowly suck them into it. My bet is that it was either Roan or Lireal who touched it. Anyway, as the first person begin to get enveloped by the gross-looking door, we each tried to form a chain to pull them out but to no avail. One by one, we were each pulled through the door with no idea what was on the other side. There were no sounds and we couldn't see what happened to those who got pulled fully in. When it started to get me, I thought to myself that this was a rather sucky way to die (no pun intended), but if this was it, then so be it. I was powerless to alter my fate so there was no use getting angry over something I had no control over. Eventually, my hand and arm got pulled into the black goo, then my leg and other arm. Before I knew it, I was almost fully engulfed, so I held my breath and hoped for the best.

Once I was in, I was harmlessly spat out on the other side or what I assumed was the other side of the door. Beside me was everyone else that had been pulled in except for Rollo, Freya's wolf, who didn’t touch the door. Poor wolf. I think he just assumed he watched us all die back on the other side. Seeing as how we were all safe and unharmed after enduring all that, Freya ventured back through the goo door to retrieve her companion, which she did after some tough-love to get him through.

As we stood in front of the black door, we looked around our immediate surroundings to see where we were. Fortunately, we weren’t immediately attacked by something, so we had that going for us at least. It was all very alien in nature, even for some of the more seasoned members of our party who had seen quite a lot during their travels. It definitely wasn't like anything we'd seen up until that point. Later on, I was told it was some sort of Illithid dwelling which at the time, none of us knew or were vaguely familiar with. Some of the odd sights I remember seeing were tentacle-like structures along the ceiling and a squid-like creature behind some sort of glass enclosure embedded in the wall. We remained on high alert as we began branching out into the adjacent rooms from the main hall we were in.

The first area I got to search was some sort of bedchamber based on the bed that was centrally situated within the room. Along with that, there was a chandelier sporting what seemed like human skulls as adornments and a small study area with a desk. I went over to the desk to see if I could find anything explaining what all this was; though, even if I did find anything, there was a small chance that I was going to be able to read any of it. As I searched, I came across a fancy quill of unknown origin and swiped it as a souvenir to remind me of the odd place. I figured that whoever it belonged to was someone or something we were going to have to kill anyway, so they weren't going to need it then. Clearly, this was some sort of evil, nefarious place and anything we came across was up for grabs.

After the bedchambers, we came across some sort of space-related study room. The more educated and experienced members of my group discerned that the parchments on the table and tools scattered around were used for astronomy and space-related studies. I had no use for any of it since the only thing I knew about space at the time was that it was up above and very vast. There was the sun, stars, and planets and that's about it. There were also two unassuming chests in that room that were more than met the eye. I approached one of them and assumed, or rather hoped, that there would be some kind of treasure or something valuable hidden inside. I was wrong. Dead wrong. I opened the one I was in front of and was exposed to a chest full of brains. It was disgusting and after that, I left the chest opening duties to someone else, at least for while we were down there.

Once we finished searching that room, we went back into the main hall and came to a closed door. When we opened it, we were greeted with the grisly sight of some sort of torture room. It was a large room filled with humanoid experiments strapped to all sorts of eldritch equipment. In the center of the room was a large, rectangular pool of some unknown ooze. It didn't look like it was safe to touch, so I didn't bother getting a closer look and neither did anyone else. The people that were captive were seated and strapped into chairs with some sort of device attached to their heads. It was all so unsettling that I kept my hand readied on the hilt of my sword.

As we ventured further into the room and towards the captives, we were attacked by a Mindflayer and two smaller brain creatures called Intellect Devourers. It was a tough battle as I had never encountered such a foe before nor had witnessed the powers and abilities it possessed. Even so, we came out victorious in the end. During the battle, one of the smaller brain creatures got a good hit in on me, so afterwards, I went over to its dead corpse to get my revenge and stomped it into a pulp beneath my boot. After dealing with my pent-up anger, I inspected the big guy, the Mindflayer.

There wasn't anything of note on him as he didn't use physical weapons, but he did have an interesting belt which is where the one I have originated from. It was purple and had a skull-shaped buckle on the front. Thought it would make an interesting souvenir, so I took it and immediately replaced the one I was currently wearing. I took my old belt and stowed it in my backpack. When the area was fully secure, we inspected the captives though all but one had passed on to the afterlife. The one that was still alive was an elf with posh looking attire. I can't remember if he was conscious or not but we ended up taking him back with us when we eventually left.

After securing the main chamber, we moved on to another area of the Illithid lair and came across an armory of sorts. There were all sorts of fancy weapons hung on the walls and stored in cabinets and such. The weaponry there ranged from standard swords and daggers to the more unique and otherworldly specimens. While I looked around with the others, I came across the first firearm of my collection. It was an ancient musket rifle that was ornately designed and fully restored, assumingly by the Mindflayer. Of course, I had no idea what a firearm was at the time and knew nothing about it other than it looked rather nice and valuable. I used my old belt and fashioned a sling for easier carrying. While there, I also picked up an Illithid ceremonial dagger that also currently resides in my personal collection.

In addition to the armory, there was a treasure room full of trinkets and other curious odds and ends. When I entered the room, the others had already scoured over most of its contents and claimed their findings. At the time, I really wasn't all that interested in treasure in the form of gold, jewels, magical items, and the like. I grew up not having much in the form of physical possessions of great value, so acquiring more wasn't a high priority for me. Nowadays, that was a different story, but back then, not so much. Anyway, I just looked around while I waited for everyone else to finish up. One item eventually caught my eye though. It was a mummified hand with a curious ring worn on one of the fingers. I remember feeling a certain attraction to it but initially didn't pay any attention to it. I can't remember if it was a magical sensation, a religious one, or something else, but all I could recall was having a sudden urge to just try it on. So far, nothing in the room seemed dangerous or booby-trapped, so I carelessly took the ring from the hand and readied to try it on. At first, I didn't fully put it on as there was a small voice in the back of my mind saying not to do it, but fate deemed that it should happen anyway. During his poking around, Moros accidentally opened a secret door which startled me, causing me to slip the ring on.

The next thing I remembered was being on the ground and waking up to the others standing around me. As I came to, I noticed something on the ground beside me. It was my Order of the Sacred Fire signet ring that I used to channel power from my patron god; it was split exactly down the middle and lay in two separate pieces. I took it and saw there was no way for me to fix it, so I placed it in my belt pouch for the time being. It turned out that the ring I had recently put on was cursed and by putting it on, it severed my connection to my patron and cut off the power I gained from them. At the time, though, I didn't think much of losing my signet ring and instead carried on as if nothing had ever happened. It seemed the cursed ring had unknowingly been influencing me but I had no idea about it. Besides the temporary lack of consciousness and the cursed ring's effects, I was completely fine.

Once I was back on my feet, we all went to check out the hidden room Moros had found earlier. There was a large panel on the wall like nothing I had ever seen before. It was like a tapestry or painting, but the images on it moved as if it were alive. There were also two chairs in front of it with devices similar to the ones the captives had been seated in back in the main chamber. It was all so alien to me that it was kind of disturbing yet awe inspiring. I wondered what kind of engineering or magic was capable of creating all that and why it wasn't more widely known. While Moros was inspecting the large image panel, Roan and Lireal decided to put caution to the wind and sat in the two chairs.

Immediately after they were situated in the chairs, they were strapped in and subjected to whatever the captives were put through as they became caught in a trance-like state. On the large panel on the wall, various images appeared as if we were seeing things from someone or something else's point of view. After they were finally released from the chairs’ clutches, Roan began acting like a mouse while Lireal was acting like a frog. They didn’t react to our attempts to communicate with them and their mannerisms were reminiscent of the creatures we figured they were mimicking. We were completely stumped as how to fix them, so we kept them on a short leash while we continued to explore. We didn’t bother messing with the alien machine anymore due to the fear of possibly making things worse.

After the ordeal in the treasure room, there wasn't much left in the area to check out. As time went on, Lireal and Roan began to regain some semblance of their old selves, but some of the animal traits remained like their lack of proper speech. We hoped all we needed to do was wait for them to return to normal, which they did... eventually. We made our way back to the main corridor that had the gross, black door and went back through. The ice wall was still there keeping the undead at bay, but unfortunately, that was the only way back out that we could find. The magic users got rid of the ice wall while the rest of us prepared to fight our way back to the entrance, but when the wall was removed, the undead were gone as well. Seemed that killing the Mindflayer also got rid of the undead problem somehow which was fine by us. We figured that its presence was corrupting the mausoleum or something like that. We gathered around the main chamber at the bottom of the hole caused by the floor collapsing earlier.

We took a moment to figure out how we were going to get out of there until Moros came up with a solution. He teleported himself and me to the top of the hole so we could help the others climb up using my rope. Moros made an anchoring point out of ice and we tied the rope around it, tossing it down the hole once it was secured. Once the rope was ready, Roan was the first to attempt the climb up. He was mostly back to his old self except for a few mouse twitches here and there and the inability to speak anything other than the word "cheese". When he grabbed the rope, he tried to climb up but failed. Lireal decided to go next and somehow managed to make it to the top; she was in a similar state as Roan but I think she was at least able to talk normally by then. And I say "managed" because she hopped like a frog in order to climb up the rope. I don't know how she did it, but it somehow worked out in the end which is all that mattered. After her, Moros and I just hoisted Roan up by having him tie the rope around his waist; we also used that technique for the elf prisoner we had with us. Next was Rollo, which we pulled up as well after a specialized rope harness was fashioned just for him. Last to go was Freya who made it up without any difficulty at all thanks to her agility.

Once we were all out of the hole, we back-tracked through the catacombs all the way back to the mausoleum's entrance. When we got back, we saw a familiar face trying to crawl up the stairs leading back into the forest. The brigand captain was still around and having trouble getting up the stairs since his legs were broken. I remember smirking when I saw him because he was quite a jerk if I remembered correctly. When he saw us came back out, he slipped and tumbled all the way back down the stairs. He was almost to the top too. I took my rope and tied him up, dragging him up the stairs and all the way back to Lake Town as a prisoner for the authorities to handle.

When we got back to the town, we dropped off the brigand captain and the elf from the Illithid dwelling with the guards. We then went to inform Elder Seedseer Catherine about what we found in the catacombs. After explaining everything to her, she seemed to be quite pleased with our success. With the deed done, we had earned her trust and respect, allowing us to take possession of the Green Orb. Once she handed it over, she rapidly aged and physically looked very old which was odd for elves. In addition to the orb, we were all given badges of honor to wear that would help us avoid any trouble while we were within the city. After all our business was taken care of, the idea of going to a spa was mentioned by someone, so Freya accompanied Catherine to go on a spa day. The rest of us went to find a large clearing where we could experiment with the orbs we had to determine their power.

I accompanied Moros, Roan, and Lireal to inspect the orbs and found an open field to safely conduct our experiments. I watched from off to the side while they fiddled with the Red and Green Orbs. They didn’t find out much, or at least, it didn’t look like they did. I was just glad we didn’t all explode or something like that after they experimented with such powerful artifacts. I didn’t exactly trust supposedly world-ending items after the stories I heard from veteran knights back with the Order. They’d talk about all sorts of horrible things the Order had come across and disposed of. After they had satisfied their curiosity for now, we went back to the inn to rest and relax.

I remember taking advantage of the down time to finally continue with my magic training that I started back with the OSF. It had been awhile since I had done any magical spells, so I sought out Moros to help teach me a thing or two. When I found him out about the town, he refreshed my memory about how to do the basic Fire Bolt spell, which was very nice of him. I had always wanted to get back into magic but never had the opportunity to do so. Though, back then, I still preferred good old swords and steel in a fight rather than magic. After my generous instruction from Moros, I headed back to the inn to get some sleep. I had been through a lot that day.


	7. Southward Bound

When morning came around, I packed up my belongings and made my way to the main area of the inn to meet up with the others. Seeing as how Ame the waitress could be around, I sneakily made my way over to others to try and avoid any awkward meetings between her and me. I went out an alternate exit and had to enter back into the main part of the inn through a window. Then I crawled on my hands and knees all the way over to Moros and the others who were all sitting at a table together. As soon as I got there, Ame came by to get everyone's orders. I tried to remain hidden under the table and whispered to Moros to order for me, but it didn't work. Ame eventually caught me but surprisingly didn't say anything. She just had a neutral expression towards me but I could tell she was hiding her true emotions behind it. I just got up and sat at the table in a very embarrassed fashion. I looked in her direction, but not directly at her, and ordered some food.

After breakfast, we decided to leave Lake Town and continue on our journey. We were told the next orb, the Blue Orb, was located south in possibly a cold environment. So that's where we were headed. On the way out of the inn, we encountered the caretaker of the catacombs and a high-ranking guard. Before we left, we told the caretaker about our experience in the catacombs and the possible dangers that still lurked down there. We also notified the guard about the two prisoners we dropped off the day before in case he wanted to interrogate them. We bid them all farewell and got onto the cart while Jasper retrieved her horse.

I regained the reins of the ox and began driving the cart down a road heading south. When we got to the outskirts of the forest, we made a stop at an old hermit's house that Moros had befriended while we were there in Lake Town. Moros dropped off the books he borrowed in order to study in his free time. While we were there, Freya befriended the old hermit and was gifted a mounted deer head for some reason. We hung the deer head on the side of the cart and continued on our way.

While we were traveling along the road, we came across a broken cart that had been turned on its side. There was also a man there and a girl who we presumed was his daughter. We stopped to provide assistance and got their cart upright while also attempting to fix the broken wheels. Meanwhile, Jasper left to try and find the missing horse the man said had run off. All while we were trying to help them out, we could sense that something was off about them and the situation surrounding us. Their suspicious story, their mannerisms, and their overly rotted cart all signaled that something was amiss. Not before long, our gut feelings proved right as we were ambushed by a band of bandits. They had used the father and daughter as bait to lure unsuspecting travelers to them in order to be robbed. Unbeknownst to them, we were no small fries though and loved robbing bandits.

We easily fended off the bandits and quickly took control of the situation, keeping the father and daughter safe in the process. I interrogated one of the orcs that was still alive at the end and I must admit, I was a bit… aggressive in my interrogation methods. I impaled his calf with my sword and twisted it to inflict non-fatal pain on the orc to make him talk. I didn’t end up getting much out of him before someone finished the guy off to cease his screaming. While we were securing the area, Jasper fortunately returned to us in one piece, finding out that the missing horse was also a ruse. While I was looting the dead, I came across a Dragonborn who was the apparent leader of the group. I found some coins on him and also took his helmet which was specially fitted for a Dragonborn. While the civilians were safe for the moment, we persuaded the father to lead us, or at least, point us in the direction of the bandit camp so we could finish the rest of them off. He was reluctant at first, but he agreed to help us in order to keep himself and his girl safe.

Once we were ready, we all left to remedy the bandit problem. Halfway to the camp, we decided to leave the ox and cart behind for safe keeping along with the father and daughter. Rollo also stayed behind with the cart to protect it and the civilians while we proceeded on ahead to take care of the bandits. As we got closer to the camp, we decided to take a stealthy approach until we knew what we were fully up against. We scouted around and measured up our enemy and their defenses. After getting a view of our surroundings and its occupants, we launched our attack. The main bulk of the party attacked head on while I snuck around to check the tents off to the side. I didn't find any hostiles there so I rejoined the others and helped them kill all the remaining bandits.

After the battle was won, we secured the area to begin our looting. There was a courier boy that was imprisoned in the main portion of the camp so when it was safe, the others freed him. While they were doing all that, I headed down the road to see what else there was. I went back to the tents I searched earlier and rummaged up a few silver coins. Further on down the road, I came across a large carriage that the bandits must’ve captured along with the two prisoners in the nearby cages. I freed the two captives and told them they could find safety back with the others in the main camp. Shortly after freeing them, Lireal came by and helped me bring the new carriage over to the rest of the group. It was unclaimed so we decided to take it for ourselves. When Lireal and I got back, we saw that the rest of the party had found an ox, a horse, and a smaller cart as well. After we had searched the camp, Freya, Lireal, and Jasper left to retrieve our old cart, Rollo, and the two civilians that were left behind.

Once everyone was back together, we took some time to decide how we were going to proceed with our newly gained assets. We decided to keep the new carriage, our old cart, and the two oxen. The carriage was pretty luxurious despite its dirty appearance; it had two bunkbeds making a total of four beds, a cooking stove, a dining booth, and a storage cabinet. It was all in good condition but just needed a good cleaning. The horse and small cart we found at the bandit camp were going to be given to the captured townsfolk so they could find refuge on their own.

After deciding on who got what, I went to work making our new traveling arrangements. I managed to rig the old cart to the back of our new carriage to be used for hauling equipment and supplies. I also got a harness fashioned for the two oxen so they could pull the carriage and cart together. The others conducted their own business around the camp and the civilians decided to stay with us until the next day. The many tasks I had took me the rest of the day so when I was done, I turned in for the night.

The next day, I awoke pretty relaxed but the others not so much. Apparently, a giant Naga approached our camp in the middle of the night, but Freya was able to persuade it to leave in peace. I was glad it decided not to attack because I was out cold. After a quick breakfast, Roan and Jasper helped the civilians prepare to leave by getting the horse and cart prepared for them. Meanwhile, I got our own cart and carriage ready to depart. I took my place in the driver's bench and took the oxen's reins. When the group of civilians was ready to go, they thanked us for saving them and headed off. Jasper decided to accompany them to provide some protection so she bid us farewell once again. We all waved goodbye to them and wished them luck before heading on our own way.

The beginning of our second day of traveling was okay up until the oxen managed to break loose from their harness. It was raining and I really didn’t feel like leaving my covered seat to go and get them. Alas, I was the one in-charge of driving the carriage, so I reluctantly got up and jumped down to run after the oxen. Freya was around and went to help me get the animals back. The oxen didn't get far as they stopped a short way down the road, allowing us to catch up with them. In front of them stood a Giant which had the oxen frozen with fear. Freya and I tried to keep the oxen calm while also trying to convince the Giant to leave us and the animals alone. Freya used a spell to talk with the animals and eventually got them to come back with us. The Giant also decided to leave us alone thanks to intervention from everyone else who came to help us out. Once the oxen were back with the carriage and secured in their harnesses, we continued on.

It continued to rain during our travels and at one-point, Roan even got struck by lightning while he was lying on the roof of the carriage. I also took advantage of the lull to learn more from Moros about magic, focusing on perfecting the Fire Bolt spell. I was getting the hang of it again as it became easier to cast the cantrip. The next few days remained uneventful and the rain continued to pick up. On the fourth day of traveling, we came to a halt as a mudslide had impeded our progress.

The road was impassible as the mudslide had completely blocked the path forward. The terrain around the road was too treacherous for the carriage to just go around, so our only way forward was by staying on the road. We couldn't think of a way to get through, so we took a break and found a canopy on some high ground to park the cart in the meantime. The rain continued to pour as we discussed what to do about the mudslide situation. During the break in traveling, I took the opportunity to do some cleaning inside the carriage. I figured if no one was going to do it, it might as well be me. If I was going to be living there, I preferred it was at least somewhat organized and clean. In the distance, we could see some will-o-wisps dancing around in the forest. Despite their slightly wicked nature, it was a rather nice sight to see. After the others finally came up with a plan, I directed the carriage back onto the road and towards the mudslide blocking the road. Roan executed the plan perfectly and managed to create a path for us to get through the obstruction on the road. Once we were through, it was back to being confined to the driver's seat again as we continued to make our way south in search of the Blue Orb.


	8. Underworld

The weather luckily cleared up as we came across the first major establishment since Lake Town. It was a Dwarven rock fort called Bheldoral. Fortunately for us, they had no love for the Empire so we were safe to approach without fear of being turned over to the authorities. We figured it was a good a place as any to take a break and restock on supplies, so we decided to stop there for the moment. When we got to the front gate, Freya took the lead and talked to the guards to ask if we could enter. The guards gave us permission and we were allowed to enter the city. Once we were within the city walls, I parked the carriage with the other carts and such outside the interior of the fortress. From the outside, it looked rather unassuming but still quite impressive for a completely stone structure. It wasn’t until you went inside that you truly got to see the place in all its glory. The fortress above was called Bheldoral, but the expansive city underneath it was called Dwarforge and by goodness it was a sight to behold.

Once the carriage was parked, everyone left to explore the subterranean city on their own. I, on the other hand, took the opportunity to begin my duties as the official unofficial requisitions officer of the party. I attained a list from Moros of things the party looted that I could sell to gain funds for the overall group. The money earned from the sales were to be put into a group fund, a fund used to pay for expenses that benefited the group as a whole. So expenses like purchasing the ox and cart constituted an appropriate use of the group fund’s assets, that is, if we had one back then. Anyway, I took the list of goods we didn't need and looked around for some merchants to sell them to.

Inside the interior on the surface level, there were a few merchant stands I could choose from. I went over to the merchant that sold arms and armor and began bartering. I managed to sell the weapons and armor we looted for a total of 201 gold coins and 6 silver coins. I then went to another merchant and sold the miscellaneous jewelry for 3 platinum coins and 50 gold coins. I was quite pleased that I was able to get so much from my first batch of sales. With the coins in hand, I tried to find a bank to exchange some of the coins for a larger denomination, you know, to make carrying all that wealth a bit easier.

I asked around and eventually found Dwarforge’s bank on the bottom floor of the shopping district. I took the coins and exchanged as much of the gold for platinum as I could to make it easier to carry. On my way out, I came across Moros who asked for a portion of the group funds for some reason. He said it was for some cloaks or something but I wasn’t quite convinced. After some persuasion, I gave him five platinum to use for his purchase that was supposedly meant to help us out. I was still a little skeptical, but whatever. If he said it was going to help us out in the long run, then it was going to help.

On the way back to the carriage, I passed by a curious looking shop that caught my eye. It had bright lights that illuminated the storefront, but the lights weren't caused by fire. It had to be some sort of magic from what I could see. Anyway, when I got closer, I realized it was some sort of weapons store except they didn't deal in swords or axes, but instead firearms. After taking a closer look at the merchandise they had, I noticed that they were the same type of weapon I found in the Illithid armory. Eager to learn more, I enthusiastically went inside and browsed around the store. There were several examples of firearms that looked like mine, but not exactly the same. While there, I learned that my particular weapon was called a flintlock rifle, a sort of long-range projectile weapon. It was like a bow or crossbow, except this kind of weapon fired small, metal ball bearings with the help of sparkpowder instead of arrows or bolts. I didn't understand the specifics of how it all worked, but alchemy and that sort of stuff never interested me to begin with. All I needed to know was how the weapon operated so I could use it in battle.

Remembering my rifle back in the carriage, I went to retrieve it so I could learn more about it and perhaps get it in working order if it needed repairs. I quickly made my way back outside and recovered my rifle, slinging it over my shoulder and eagerly making my way back to the shop. When I got there, I showed one of the employees currently not busy with a customer my rifle. After taking a look at it, he was very surprised with the specimen I had brought him, saying that he had never seen one quite like mine before. He said something about it being an original rather than a reproduction like the ones they sold there. I asked him if it could still shoot but he replied saying it was in need of some repairs before it was fully functional again. Luckily, he said he could have it repaired by tomorrow so I left it with him to fix up.

For the remainder of the day, I just wandered around on my own, taking note of all the stores and locations around Dwarforge. As it got late in the evening, I went back to the carriage to get some shut eye. When I got back, I only found Roan there without anyone else around. He was all alone on the roof of the carriage. I figured the others would be okay on their own so I wasn’t too worried about their absence. They were all capable individuals and we were in a seemingly safe environment. I shrugged it off and found an empty bed in the carriage before finally falling asleep.

Once I woke up the next day, I immediately made my way back to the gunshop to see how my rifle turned out. When I got there, I met the same employee from the day before. He said that my rifle was ready to go and left to retrieve it for me. When he returned, he said it was a pleasure working on it as it helped further his knowledge on firearms and maintaining them. As I took it in my hands, I saw that my rifle looked great, much better than before. It was all cleaned up and he said that any damaged or worn-out pieces had been replaced. Once I had looked it over, he offered to give me a demonstration on how it worked. I happily accepted his offer and followed him to a shooting range, curious to see how it operated.

When we got to the test range, he took my rifle and loaded a metal ball bearing and some sparkpowder into it. He then took aim and fired at a target downrange. The sound was like a small explosion with a puff of smoke emanating from the end of the rifle. It was that loud. But the rush it gave me was exhilarating. Once the demo was over with, I graciously thanked him and paid him the 20 gold coins we agreed on for the work he did on my rifle. I also got myself a horn of sparkpowder and a proper sling for my rifle to replace the makeshift one I made using my old belt. I already had a bag of ball bearings in the carriage, so I was good on ammunition for the moment. I slung the rifle on my shoulder and left to see what else the city had to offer.

Seeing as how I hadn't had breakfast yet, I followed my nose as I smelled food being cooked from somewhere down below. I made my way back down to the bottom floor where a tavern was also located along with the bank I visited earlier. My quest for food eventually led me to the rest of the group (Lireal, Moros, and Freya) who apparently got super drunk the night before and had stayed there at the tavern overnight. When I met up with them, they were talking about another job they were offered and were more than likely going to take.

The job they were given was tasked to them by the head scout of the city, a Dwarf named Barog. A couple of his scouts had gone missing while investigating the Drow ruins beneath the city of Dwarforge. Barog wanted us to find and retrieve his scouts if they were still alive. He also told us that while we were down there, any technological finds we came across were ours to claim as part of our reward. I wasn't there when the group was first told about the mission, but the mention of Drow must've put a sadistic smile on Moros' face. Either that or an expression of dread depending on how he was feeling at that moment. When we were ready to go, we were told to meet up with a Dwarven scout at the entrance to the ruins who was going to act as our guide.

Once we were ready to go, we made our way to the rendezvous point to meet up with the Dwarf scout. After meeting him, he led us through a series of tunnels until we came across the entrance to an underground stone city, or rather, the ruins of one. As we carefully made our way further in, we came across some indigenous mushrooms which Lireal carelessly sampled. She started hallucinating for a bit but fortunately it didn't last forever and wasn't poisonous.

As we came to a structure in the caverns, we began to hear voices within. We all came to a halt and proceeded as stealthily as we could to try and catch whoever they were off-guard. Looking around the corner, we spotted a couple of Drow acting as sentries or something. We quietly got into position and simultaneously took them out without alerting more of them. We carefully secured the area and found a trap door that led down further into the ruins. The Dwarf scout stayed behind to keep watch of the area, so we continued on without him.

The structure we were in was abandoned and pretty run down. It looked as if no one had been there in ages as dust and debris littered our surroundings. What was extra strange were the blue conduits along the top of the walls. There seemed to be some kind of magic flowing through them that was powering something, but what though, we didn't know. While we were looking around, we came across some sort of advanced, ancient lift. It was completely made of metal and we couldn't see the pulleys or other mechanisms that made it work. Surprisingly, it still functioned as the door opened after pushing a button on the wall directly adjacent to it. It worked so seamlessly and was illuminated by some sort of magical light inside. We all hesitantly piled in and looked around the interior of the metal box. Seeing as how there was no other way to proceed, we pressed the button that was below the one that was already illuminated. We figured the one that was lit represented the floor we were on, so we decided to take it slow and descend one floor at a time.

After hitting the button, the metal doors closed with a slight screech and the lift began to move. Besides the creaks and moans of the old mechanisms, the ride was rather smooth. When we arrived at the next floor, the doors opened to reveal a completely dead floor. The level was full of skeletons strewn about and occasionally, we could see the glow of a spirit or ghost haunting the hallways. We quickly decided to continue on and pressed the next button, causing the doors to shut once more and the lift to descend one floor down. On the way down, one of the ghosts must've seen us as it suddenly came through the walls of the elevator and gave us a spook.

The light suddenly went out and the lift stopped just before it revealed itself. Now, I was never one to be afraid of the dark, but when the lights died out and the ghost appeared out of the blue, I'll admit I was a bit startled. Despite the close quarters, we managed to keep striking each other to a bare minimum as we dispatched the ghost, or Ghast, or whatever it was. Once it was gone, the lights came back to life and the lift continued moving.

The next floor down was the same as the last, so we decided to skip right to the level just before the last one on the panel. We couldn't understand the markings on the buttons, but we figured the button we just hit was for maybe the lobby or something. As the elevator slowed to a stop, we prepared ourselves for anything, but when the door finally opened, we were greeted to a different scene which was a relief. The floor was indeed different than the previous ones with large glass panes making most of the front wall. There was a reception desk and pieces of furniture haphazardly laid about. Directly in front of the lift was a path that supposedly led to the structure’s front door. It appeared to be blocked as far as we could tell from where we were.

Moros and I decided to investigate and left the lift to look around the immediate area. There were a few bodies by the front door barricade and they seemed to be long-since decayed. As I searched the ground around them, I found an old-looking flintlock pistol. I recognized the weapon and had seen them before at the gunshop in Dwarforge. It was like a smaller version of the rifle and seemed to be meant for one-handed use. Excited about finding another firearm, I quickly took it and put it in my backpack. Although it looked like it didn't work anymore, I was sure the fellows at the gunshop could get it back in working order. Alongside the pistol, I found an odd case made of a material I wasn’t familiar with. It wasn’t wood or metal but instead made of something I had never encountered before. It was lighter than metal but seemed to be just as strong. Inside the container were long, brass tubes about the size of my index finger. Whatever they were, I'm sure they were worth something. The case itself was at least worth finding out more about.

While Moros was looking around, he found a key that went to the front door in the lobby. After we moved the obstacles in front of the door out of the way, he unlocked it and we momentarily stepped outside. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. There was a road that was in front of the building that was perfectly flat and made of rock, or some sort of similar material. At first, it looked like a black moat, but after stepping on it, it was completely solid. Even though it was hazy and dark, we could make out the shapes of other buildings in the distance. What was truly amazing was that we were still fully underground. The sights were short lived as we saw glimpses of light hovering about here and there. They seemed to be some sort of wandering spirit and Moros and I had our fair share of fighting ghosts for now.

We promptly retreated back into the building and closed the door. We did our best not to draw any attention towards us as we made our way back to the lift with the others. Once we were in the metal elevator, we decided to see what was on the bottom floor. After hitting the button, the doors closed and we descended. When we got to the bottom, the doors opened and we were exposed to a grisly sight. It was dark, dank, and there seemed to be blood on the ground. Suddenly, an unidentified beast appeared in front of us out on the floor, seemingly the source of all the carnage. The elevator made a sound as the doors opened which got the creature's attention. It roared at us and charged straight in our direction while we were still inside the lift.

Caught completely off-guard, we tried to get the doors closed as we pushed the button for the floor right above us. The creature almost got to us as the doors finally shut completely. The beast rammed the door, creating a slight dent in it as the lift went back up to the previous floor. When the doors opened again, we were relieved to find ourselves back on the lobby's floor with the beast nowhere in sight. We took a moment to recompose ourselves then came up with a plan to deal with the beast. Once we were ready, we hit the button again for the bottom floor, but this time, we were fully prepared for what awaited us. When the doors opened, the beast was still there and charged at us once more. Lireal stepped to the front of the group and attempted to cast the Banishment spell, but it failed. Luckily, Roan was also prepared as a backup and cast the same spell. That time it worked and the creature disappeared in a blink of an eye with the sound of a pop.

We all exhaled with relief as silence enveloped our surroundings once more. Not wanting to take any chances, we waited a few moments before venturing onto the bottom floor in case there was another beast lurking about. Once we figured it was clear, we all kept our guard up as we left the lift to investigate the basement. The blood was rather fresh and from what we could discern, it came from the several Drow corpses that were strewn about. While were searching around, we came upon a blocked door. It wasn't locked but instead barricaded from the opposite side. As we investigated it closer, we heard two sets of Drow voices on the other side of the barricaded door. We were curious to see what they were doing there and had to say, so Lireal and I tried talking with them in an attempt to persuade them to come out of the room.

Eventually, after some negotiating back and forth, we came to an agreement and they started to remove the obstacles blocking the door. However, having previous negative confrontations with the Drow in the past, we weren't inclined to give them any potential advantages if we could help it. As soon as it sounded like most of the barricade had been removed, I bashed open the door and kept my sword at the ready. Once I was in the doorway, a male Drow sat wounded on the floor and a female Drow stood beside him. They both didn't appear to be armed nor did they seem to be combatants especially judging by what the female was wearing. As a side note, that "female" wasn't a female but instead a very feminine-looking male. But for the sake of things, the Drow named Isil will continue to be referred to as a female since I was one of the last ones to know Isil was actually a man.

Anyway, I kept my sword trained on the female Drow who introduced herself as Isil, a bard specializing in belly-dancing. The others entered the room behind me and secured the area. After Isil explained her situation to us, we lessened our hostility towards her while keeping a vigilant eye on the two of them. Apparently, she was part of a peaceful tribe of Drow that had been living down in the ruins for quite some time. It wasn't until the Dwarves from Dwarforge began to intrude on their territory did things begin to get violent and out of hand. From her perspective, the Dwarves were in the wrong by being too greedy and racist towards the indigenous Drow. The whole situation between the Drow and Dwarves had to wait, however, since a third and more destructive party had entered the fray: the Empire. The Empire had been looting and enslaving people as of late and the Drow had been suffering dearly for it. Once we had heard Isil's side of the story, we decided to help her and the rest of her people out while also not forgetting our primary objective of finding the missing Dwarf scouts.

After getting the introductions out of the way, we all went back to the elevator and rode it to the floor above back to the lobby. When we arrived, we got off and proceeded towards the front entrance again. For some reason, we used a broken window to go through instead of the unlocked front door to exit the building. After getting outside, we stood on the empty sidewalks once more and looked around. This time, the floating lights from the ghosts were gone but instead replaced by the sight of Empire soldiers attacking Drow as they tried to run away. We couldn't allow the Empire to get away with their evil deeds so we hurried into action.

While Roan went about trying to coral the Drow survivors to safety, Freya hurried to intercept the Empire soldiers and stop them with her bow. As she was about to fire her first arrow, she happened to get a good look at her target and suddenly recognized who they were. It was someone from her hometown but they were wearing Empire garb. Thinking it was just a hallucination, she took aim at another Empire soldier and saw another one of her hometown's citizens. She was utterly confused by this as was I and the rest of the group. What were Freya's townsfolk doing attacking the Drow on behalf of the Empire? Had they joined their ranks? I tried to keep an open mind and figured they were being coerced into doing so. Even though they were deemed hostiles, we couldn't rightly kill any of the Empire soldiers, or at least, the ones that happened to be Freya's people.

As we tried to get a handle on the situation, Roan and Isil continued to calm her fellow Drow down while Freya tried to stop her townsfolk from fighting. Down the road, we saw a larger Empire force garrisoned at a camp. Freya asked one of her townsfolk, a person named Jane who was the baker's wife, if that was where the leader was. Jane gave a nod and said yes. In order to get as close as possible, Freya took Jane’s uniform and disguised herself as an Empire soldier to infiltrate the camp and kill the leader. Two of her townsfolk joined her as well and the three of them made their way towards the enemy encampment. At the same time, Roan, Lireal, and Moros followed behind her from the shadows to provide support if need be. I decided to stay back with Rollo, Jane, Isil, and the rest of the Drow survivors to defend them if necessary. I remained on high alert in case I was needed at the front, so in the meantime, I watched from afar.

I don’t know exactly what happened next as I couldn’t see everything clearly, but it seemed to me that Freya lost her nerve at the sight of the General and fired off an arrow too soon. I figured it was her who started it since everyone else came rushing to her aid. In the distance, I saw at least five Empire soldiers begin to engage Freya and the others in combat, so Rollo and I hurried to provide assistance. During the initial encounter, there were a few casualties from Freya’s townsfolk: Jane’s sister was killed, the town hall secretary was killed, and the blacksmith was gravely injured with an arm being cut off. While we fought the soldiers who turned out to be the General’s elite guard, the General himself retreated back into the jail which was in front of the camp. After we defeated the guards, we hurried to pursue the General and entered the jail where he was hiding before he got away.

Upon entered the building, the General stood before us across the room accompanied by five more of his soldiers. We all stood in front of him and prepared for a fight. Freya was extra anxious as she wanted to get revenge for the needless deaths of her people. Behind the General was a jail cell made of iron bars and within the cell were two Dwarves whom we assumed were Barog’s missing scouts. Not wanting to let him get away, we readied ourselves and attacked.

As the battle began, the General stood his ground and sent his soldiers in to soften us up some, not that he needed to with the amount of power he had. It was a tough fight and we could barely get a hit in on the General with the soldiers and the magical barrier he put up in our way. Eventually, he must have gotten bored of us because halfway through the fight, he did some kind of magic and made time stop, or at least, that was what we assumed happened. I say this because at one moment, I was fighting one of the Empire soldiers and then the next, the General along with all his soldiers to include Freya’s townsfolk, were just gone.

In a blink of an eye, it was all over and we were left still alive for some reason. We were all stunned for a moment as all the fighting came to an abrupt stop. One second, it was chaos, then the next, silence. We kept our guard up as we secured the area in case it was just some sort of trick to make us feel a false sense of security. After a few more moments of complete stillness, we ventured around the jail to find out what had happened. The soldiers we killed just moments ago were still around on the ground but all the live ones were gone. We went over to the jail cell and freed the two Dwarves that were imprisoned there. They turned out to be all that was left of the missing scouts from Dwarforge, so that was some good news at least. After Moros opened up the cell door, one of the scouts gave him an interesting item they had found while they were out scouting. They said it was a battery of sorts, whatever that meant, and that we could have it in exchange for freeing them.

While Moros and I interrogated the scouts, Lireal, Roan, and Freya checked outside to make sure the Empire had truly departed. After talking with the Dwarves, Moros and I went to join the others with the scouts following behind us. It was around that time that Isil had revealed herself to be a male to Roan, Lireal, and Freya. Moros found out a bit afterwards along with me. I was surprised to say the least since Isil was rather… cute. Even with the revelation, I didn’t think any different of Isil and continued on like normal. Anyway, the fighting outside had stopped and the Empire was nowhere to be found, the dead littering the street all around us. Everyone tried their best to recover after the combat had ceased and roamed about the battlefield. Isil was rounding up her people and tending to the wounded while Freya was doing the same with what remained of hers. She did her best to aid the one-armed blacksmith and get him into a stable condition. While everyone was taking care of the casualties, I took a moment to loot some of the dead Empire elite guards for anything worth taking. Unfortunately, I don't remember finding anything worthwhile.

While Freya was taking care of her people, we talked about our next step with regards to the wounded survivors. Freya was adamant about returning home to her hometown of Dawsburry which was about a few days walking distance from Dwarforge according to her. She was worried sick about the fate of the rest of her people, but we still had a mission to accomplish first. It took some talking to in which she eventually calmed down. We then agreed that our next immediate action was to see what happened with the Drow survivors and find out why the Empire had been harassing them.

We all followed Isil to where the Drow survivors had been congregating and sought out the leader to get more information. When we got there, the Drow leader, an older male Drow named Alfonso, was addressing his people in an attempt to calm them down after the Empire had almost enslaved them all. Afterwards, we got to talk with him in a more private setting and got some answers to our questions. We also took the opportunity to help broker a truce between them and the inhabitants of Dwarforge. We all had a common enemy in the form of the Empire so becoming allies instead of fighting each other was the most logical decision. The basic summary of the truce was that the Drow would allow the Dwarves to share in the technological discoveries on their territory instead of solely claiming both the territory and findings for themselves. In exchange for the finds, Dwarforge would allow the Drow to access their city and would offer protection for them in times of need. Alfonso and the rest of the Drow of Eryndlyn agreed to the terms, so it was up to us to persuade the leaders of Dwarforge to accept them as well. Moros acted as the scribe and wrote down all the aspects of the treaty on a couple of pieces of parchment, giving one copy to Alfonso and keeping the other to give to the leaders of Dwarforge. As a token of gratitude for saving them and our willingness to broker a peace on their behalf, Alfonso gave each of us a badge which signified our honored status in Eryndlyn, the Drow settlement where he and the other Drow are from. The badge was a five-pointed star and looked reminiscent of something we found in the jail. Grateful, I wore it with pride alongside the badge of honor from Lake Town.

After taking care of all that, we all made our way back to Dwarforge to return the scouts and finish brokering the truce. Isil and her wounded companion from earlier, Melosh, accompanied us to act as representatives of the Drow of Eryndlyn. As we approached the structure with the metallic lift, an unknown Halfling came bursting through the front door of the building towards us. He told us to run as he continued running right passed us. Moros said he looked familiar but wasn't sure. When we looked back to the entrance of the building, something large crashed through the lobby’s ceiling and plowed right through the front of the lobby. It was some kind of machine or automaton and it was bellowing fire. It was fast and it was coming right for us. We all turned heel and followed after the Halfling from before, trying to find a place to get away from the advancing death machine.

The Dwarves from the scouting party were familiar with the area and recognized an old mining tunnel that we could find sanctuary in. We all hurried to get inside and once we were all in, the Dwarves collapsed the entrance which prevented the machine from getting to us and also disabling it in the process. I remember being furious with the scouts because for one, they could have killed us as well, but more importantly, they could have killed themselves which would have severely hampered our mission of getting any recovered scouts back to Dwarforge safely. But fortunately, we were all alive and in one piece... for the most part. With the entrance behind us cut off, the only way out was through the tunnels. I took the lead and used my All-seeing Eye Patch to see through the darkness. It was a magically enchanted eyepatch that allowed me to see around thirty feet ahead of me in the dark. Problem was that I had to close my non-covered eye and look through the patch itself in order to see. I can't remember where I got it from, but it was probably from one of the others.

While we were walking through the tunnel, the Halfling that the machine was chasing introduced himself. He said his name was Cane. He was a colleague of Moros' and a member of the same college he was. Cane then went on to talk about how the college they were members of hadn't heard from Moros in a long time and wanted a status report which was why he was there in the first place. He was sent by the college to find Moros and tell him to return to the college immediately. After explaining all that, Cane gave Moros a teleportation ring to get back to the college and report in. Moros took the ring and told us he'd hurry to give his report so that he could quickly return to us. Before we could oppose, he disappeared into thin air, leaving Cane to sort of take his place in the meantime.

Once Moros was gone, we continued on and were suddenly engulfed in some sort of darkness. Don't get me wrong, it was dark already inside that old, musty mining tunnel, but at least I could see somewhat using my eyepatch. But suddenly it was pitch-black and I couldn't see an inch in front of me. It wasn't normal so I drew my sword and prepared for an attack. Roan suddenly said he hit something but no one had reported feeling anything. Eventually, the magical darkness disappeared and we were allowed to continue. Not before long, the darkness reappeared again as we encountered six Duergar or Gray Dwarves as they were more commonly called. They had been the source of the darkness and they weren't too keen on letting us leave for some reason. But no worries. If they wanted to play, then we’d play. We killed them outright.

After that minor distraction aside, we continued on down the tunnel until we came across a set of large double doors. The scouts said they hadn't been that far down the tunnel and were unfamiliar with the territory, so they were of no use for information. We all prepared ourselves and went through the doors, entering a very ominous room. It appeared to be of a different type of construction and aesthetic than the rest of the ruins from before. We cautiously looked around and tried to find a way for us to continue on. There were pieces of furniture, equipment, and an overall sense of intrigue that piqued our interests. It wasn't like the Illithid lair from Lake Town, but something different entirely.

As the group inspected the machine in the center of the room, something clicked in their minds as Lireal took out the battery device that Moros had given her before leaving. Seeing others like it around there, she placed it into the machine and suddenly, a fire elemental or something appeared before us. It came forth from the machine once the battery was securely in place and seemed like it had been asleep for quite some time. The thing’s name was Lykos and he was some sort of artificial fire creature that at one point had been a sort of servant to the makers of the place we were in. Unfortunately, it had been many years since his masters had last roamed the halls of the compound so he had been left alone. As he was waking up, he saw Freya lighting some bins of coal on fire and freaked out, explaining that the coal was his food source. Freya embarrassingly apologized and handed him some non-burnt coal to eat. After explaining a few more things, we decided to continue through the facility and took the battery that Lykos resided in with us.

Continuing further into the ruins, we entered into a sort of office environment full of cubicles for scribes or other kind of office worker. There were desks, cabinets, and other pieces of furniture that were there, left untouched for who knew how long. We spread out and searched the area for anything interesting, staying close enough to still keep in contact with. I searched one of the cubicles and rifled through the cabinet and drawers. I didn't find much except for a curious book written in an ancient language I couldn’t understand. Based on the image on the cover, it looked like some kind of... romance novel perhaps? Even though I couldn't read it, I thought I might as well take it along in case I found someone who could.

In another part of the room, Freya encountered a baby mimic in the form of a small treasure chest. She cornered it in a small side room and tried to tame the beast despite its very hostile nature. I stood by just outside the door as I watched her try in vain, ready to come to her aid and put down the mimic if she became overwhelmed. Even though she had vast knowledge about taming animals, her efforts to try and befriend the wild beast failed. She accepted defeat and trapped the mimic in the room by itself. The others didn't find much else around the room so we continued on.

Further into the facility, we came across some sort of trapped room that seemed like it was oddly out of place. What really struck us as odd was that there seemed to be three dead Empire soldiers in the middle of the room. They hadn't decomposed which indicated they were freshly killed. Unfortunately, it turned out that the dead were also some of Freya's villagers that had been conscripted into the General's service. The General and his forces had to have been through there recently. We guessed that he came that way after he escaped from us earlier. We weren’t about to be deterred by the traps and went about trying to figure out how the trapped room worked. The room had pressure plates covering the entirety of the floor and if the wrong plate was activated, arrows shot out of the wall to punish the intruder.

After some observations and trial-and-error, Lireal figured out the pattern to the room and relayed it to the rest of us. She also managed to unlock a hidden treasure room that contained three chests full of loot. After taking what we could from the chests, we managed to come out with 2,500 gold coins, 8,387 silver coins, 708 copper coins, and five potions of healing. Once we were all safely across the trapped room, we decided to take a break and split everything amongst ourselves.

We found ourselves in a mundane room that looked like some sort of lounge or reception area of sorts. While we were resting, Roan wandered off and decided to investigate a nearby side room by himself. Once he went inside the room, he fell through the floor and plummeted to the bottom. Since he had been gone awhile, Lireal left to search for him and found him in a sticky situation. Roan had gotten himself stuck in some sort of goo creature that had been lurking underneath the floor in a pit. Once Lireal called for help, I got up along with Freya and Cane to provide assistance however we could. When I got there, I pulled out my rope, tossing it down for Roan to grab and use to climb out with. While I was tightly holding on to the rope and waiting for Roan to take hold of it, I was suddenly charmed by the goo monster which made me let go of the rope. Lireal was also affected by the charm but thanks to Cane dispelling the charm, she managed to grab the rope using Mage Hand before it fully fell into the pit. With the rope firmly secured, Freya and Lireal attacked the goo monster while Cane and I helped pull Roan out of the creature's gooey grasp. Once Roan was rescued, we left that room and returned to the others to finally rest like we were supposed to. When we were settled in, we all got some shut eye while we were still able to.

After we woke up, we continued on through the ruins, hoping the General hadn't gotten too far while we were sleeping. I couldn't tell what time of day it was but it felt like I had gotten enough sleep. As we walked through the facility, we came across a room with lots of empty containers and a couple of odd machines. They seemed to dispense some sort of liquid that looked like the one Lykos’ battery was filled with. Lireal took out the battery we had and filled it up; we imagined Lykos would approve of it so we made sure it filled to capacity. While they were looking around, I took one of the empty containers and filled it just in case we needed more of the liquid. It wasn't exactly a battery but more like a spare container to be used when refueling one, I guess. I placed the filled container in my backpack and followed after the others when they began to leave.

The next room we came across seemed like some sort of supply storage room. There were lots of storage containers filled with who knew what. They were sealed shut and we couldn’t get them open, so we couldn't find out. As I was looking around, I came across a box hung on a wall with a glass pane window. There were two scrolls inside it which caught my attention. I wanted to see what they were, but I couldn't figure out how to open the box. After inspecting the case and finding no detectable traps, I took my knife and used the pommel to break the glass. The loud noise startled the rest of the party, but fortunately nothing bad happened other than a few glass shards littering the ground. I reached in and took the scrolls which turned out to be a Scroll of Resurrection and a Mini Scroll of Revivify. Unsure of what they did at the time, I just shrugged and placed them in my pack. It wasn't until much later that I found out what the scrolls were and what they did. They came in handy when they did but I'll get to that later.

As the others explored further into the room, Freya heard what sounded like soft sobbing and went to investigate. We all followed her and found Jane caught in a trap. She told us the General had left her behind after she was used to spring the trap, allowing him and the rest of his group to continue unscathed. Freya quickly freed her and went about giving her medical attention. While she did that, we looked down the passageway that the General had supposedly continued down but didn’t see him. Once Jane was patched up to the best of our abilities, we continued down the passage. It seemed like we were catching up to the General which meant that he was just up ahead.

At the end of the corridor, it opened up into a large, cavernous area that was wide and vast. There was light shining down from large chasms above in the cave's ceiling which illuminated the entire area. In the distance, we could see what appeared to be the General standing between a large, beached ship and a fierce red dragon. We continued to watch from afar as we kept behind cover and at a safe distance until we got a feel for the situation. The General seemed to be fighting the dragon solo as the rest of his forces were nowhere in sight. Eventually, the dragon got the upper hand on the General, forcibly knocking him backwards with a mighty blow into one of the holes in the ship's hull.

Seeing as there was nowhere else to go, we prepared to fight the dragon ourselves. We had Isil, Melosh, the two Dwarf scouts, Jane, and the one-armed blacksmith stay behind in the safety of the rocks. Meanwhile, we continued on ahead to deal with the dragon and any leftover Empire soldiers. At first, we advanced as stealthily as we could and once we were ready, launched a surprise attack on the dragon. At that point, when I say we, I mean everyone else since I couldn't exactly attack from a distance. I didn't have my rifle with me and I didn't know any long-range spells that could harm it. I mean, I had my Fire Bolt spell but it was fire based. The dragon was a red dragon and spewed fire from its mouth. Fire against fire. Not a good mix.

For most of the battle, I just stayed behind a large rock along with someone else but I can't remember who it was since it was so frantic. Soon enough, the dragon just had to come over towards us and attacked with a large fireball and gust attack using its large wings. For the most part, the fire from the fireball didn't hurt me in the slightest, but the force behind the blast coupled with the gust of wind from its wings sent me hurling back, causing me to smash my head against some rocks. I was told I was knocked out cold but Roan came to my aid and got me up and moving again. He then used a spell to strike the dragon with a huge wave of water that he got from the nearby river. The rest of the wave flowed through the battlefield, washing rocks and debris away long with it. I was caught in the secondary wave and pushed back a bit, but I managed all right since I was an ace swimmer even with my armor and gear on. Eventually, we bested the dragon and brought it to death's door.

After the dragon was taken care of, we carefully approached the ship and the General himself. As we got closer to where the General was last located, we spotted an Empire soldier hunched over him as he remained lying in the ship after being hit by the dragon. We then witnessed the soldier stab the General which ended his miserable life, something any one of us wished we got to do. We hurried over to the soldier to see what the deal was and remained cautious. After the figure, who was a human male, revealed himself to us, Freya recognized him as her best friend named Drake from when she was a child living in Dawsburry. At first, she seemed to be relieved but then noticed that he was wearing an Empire officer uniform and became guarded towards him. We kept him at weapon's distance until he explained himself fully to us. He confessed everything and said that he was the one that called the Empire to Dawsburry and did it in order to gain favor with them. He also mentioned that he and his family had always been jealous of Freya and her family, the Blackthorns. Why exactly, I couldn’t remember, but the resentment must’ve been pretty strong for him to call on the Empire.

I can't remember what was all said after that as I was anxious to get first dibs on looting the General, but Drake eventually admitted to his crimes and turned himself in to us. Perhaps it had to do with Cane showing him a locket from one of the dead villagers we found in the trap room. It kind of made him realize the reality of his crimes, I guess. Anyway, after all that drama was out of the way, I quickly went about claiming my prize... even though I really didn't do anything to deserve it. I immediately grabbed the General's sword and was left in awe of its craftsmanship. I didn't care if it belonged to a high-ranking officer in the evil Empire's army. It was just a tool either meant to be used for good or evil; it was all left up to the wielder to decide how it was going to be used. As I looked over the sword, I noticed it had a certain kind of magical power behind it, so I decided to give it a swing. It was heavy, but not so much as to be unwieldy. As I swung it, it felt like the end of the blade could deal much more damage than a normal sword, but I couldn't quite put my finger behind how it exactly worked. I just shrugged and sheathed the bluish-gray tinted blade back in its scabbard. I set it aside and continued to see what else I could loot off him. His pauldrons looked pretty nice and had what I guessed was his rank in the Empire’s army engraved on them. It would make a nice trophy and potential addition to my breastplate, I figured. I went to work removing it from his armor then stuffed it in my pack. After that, I searched his pockets and pouches and came up with two vials of holy water, an unopened ration, a Poisoner’s Kit, and a component pouch. After I finished looting him, I went to join the others who proceeded on to exploring the ship without me.

While I was gone, the others found a similar device akin to the one we first saw in the ruins with Lykos. It was located in the bottom of the ship in a room full of coal. Lireal hooked the battery up to the machine which made Lykos appear again. He seemed happy with his new home, that being the ship we were on. He explained to everyone a little bit about it and said he could act as a power source for it. When the others told me about it, I was confused when they said power source, but then they said the ship could actually fly and Lykos could power it. They also found a functioning automaton named Jericho that served as the ship’s chef. It resided in the ship’s kitchen and was confined to its interior, unable to leave the room. It appeared to be almost, if not just as old as Lykos was. The food around him had long since rotted away so he was more or less left on standby until given further instructions. We otherwise wouldn’t have paid too much attention to it except for one thing. The trouble was that it was hostile to anyone not wearing a special kind of badge that identified the wearer as a friendly. Fortunately, Lireal found a bunch of them in the captain’s quarters and handed each of us one to wear.

After taking a short break on the ship, we went back and retrieved Isil and the others to bring them over to where we were. On the way back to the ship, we looted the dragon and got a lot of its scales, its horns, an eyeball, and samples of its blood and other internal organs. I only got a horn and a few scales but the others thought they could make use of the rest by either selling them or using them as ingredients in potions and whatnot.

When we got back to the ship, Lireal and Cane told us about a certain deck of cards that they had found… a certain, evil, cursed deck of cards I wish they had just left well enough alone. But no. Curiosity got the better of them and they paid the price for it. While someone retrieved the deck of cards, we all gathered around on the ship’s top deck to see what they were all about. Cane said something about how they were magical yet cursed, had very specific rules, and definitely should not be messed with. Some of the cards were good but a majority were bad which tempted a couple of our members to try their luck.

Roan was the first to go and drew the Skull card. It seemed like it would be an evil card but nothing bad came of it as far as we could tell. As soon as he took the card, Roan knew what it did but decided to keep it a secret from us until he needed it. Seeing as nothing bad happened, Freya took a turn and picked a card. She got the Balance card which seemed to do nothing as well. She then immediately pulled a second card, the Wizard card, with nothing happening as well. Unimpressed, Roan took another turn and got the Flames card which immediately summoned an unspeakable horror. We all stood in horror as we briefly got a glimpse of it before it disappeared just as fast as it came. It seemed that the second card he pulled summoned an ancient evil to kill whoever pulled the card. Luckily, his first card gave him the ability to avoid any confrontation he wished, so he used his first card to nullify the second which was a lucky break for us. After that, I’d say we should have been done with those stupid and dangerous cards, but no. That wasn’t like them. One more card was pulled that day and that card was the one that put a stop to it all… for a while, anyway. I’m not sure what tempted him, but Roan pulled his third and final card, the Donjon card. It only gave him enough time to realize what happened before Roan was teleported away never to be seen again. We weren’t sure where he had gone, but everything that he was wearing and owned just fell to the floor where he last stood.

Of course, we took it hard but I think Lireal took it the hardest. After Moros left for his special assignment, she seemed a bit sad but not heartbroken, but this… this just about broke her. Having just about enough of the cave, we all decided it was time to get out of there and back to Dwarforge. Since the fastest way back there was up and out through the chasm above, we figured we just fly the ship to Dwarforge. Cane volunteered to try and pilot the ship with Lykos powering the ancient vessel back to life. With a little bit of ingenuity and a whole lot of luck, Cane managed to get the ship into the air and towards the crevice up above. The ship sustained a few scrapes and scratches on the way out, but we managed to breach the surface in one piece.


	9. Loose Ends and New Friends

Once we were clear of the ground and finally in the air, we made our way back to Dwarforge in a slow and safe manner. As we approached the city from the sky, Cain spotted a suitable spot to dock the ship and brought her in. The ship hovered above the entrance area to the city and sat next to a tower. When we were given the all clear, we departed from the ship to carry out our business. When we disembarked, we were confronted by a couple of guards, but after explaining everything, they let us through without any hassle.

The first piece of business for me was to get the scouts back to Barog safe and sound. Until those two scouts were back home, we weren’t going to get paid and I really wanted to get paid for all the trouble we had to endure to get them back alive. Freya and I escorted them back into Dwarforge and returned them in one piece to the rest of their brethren. We also found out the Dwarf guide that led us to the ruins was able to make it back on his own which we had almost forgotten about. While we were doing that, Lireal sought out Barog to collect our reward which was quite substantial. She was able to negotiate for a total of 10,000 gold coins in the form of ten platinum bars worth 1,000 gold coins a piece. We each got two bars which was pretty generous of Barog, but considering all we went through, I’d say it was a fair amount. After delivering the scouts back to their superiors, Freya and I, along with Isil, met up with Lireal to collect our reward by the bank. When we rendezvoused with Lireal, she told us that she talked with Barog to help us arrange a meeting with the leadership of Dwarforge. In the meantime, we were left to take care of our own errands while we waited for him to return.

Lireal and Freya found themselves enthralled with a local tattoo artist, so I left them to do something else. Seeing as I had the time, I went to the armorsmith to get my breastplate repaired and perhaps get the General’s pauldrons attached to it. The high-elf armorsmith I found said he could manage my many requests and said it shouldn’t be a problem. It only cost 105 gold coins, so I told him I’d return the next day to pick it up and left to take care of other business. While I was in the area, I sought out a capable tailor to put in a special request. In order to accent my new look, I wanted to get a red half-cape to drape over my shoulder. I also wanted it to be fire-proof, embroidered with gold, and initialed with KS somewhere on it. Luckily, I found just the tailor and placed the order with them. It cost less than my armor order at only 50 gold coins. I thanked the tailor then left the store to head somewhere else. On the way out, I saw Cane in the distance having some sort of musical duel with the owner of the music store he was in front of. They both seemed to be playing the fiddle and they were attracting quite the crowd.

My errands took longer than I thought as the group came looking for me to attend the meeting with the Dwarforge leaders. It was me, Isil, Cane, and Freya who attended the meeting with the city’s leadership. Barog led us to the meeting chambers and sat in on it as well. Isil handed the leader of Dwarforge, a seasoned Dwarf by the name of Bali Forgegrog, the treaty scroll that Moros had written up. They exchanged words after Bali had read the scroll and were able to come to a peaceful agreement. They also agreed to hold some sort of cultural festival to raise awareness between the Drow and the denizens of Dwarforge. Once the deal was taken care of, we all left to get ready for the festival.

While everyone else was preparing for their performance at the festival, I decided to visit the gun store to see what was there. I showed one of the employees the flintlock pistol I found in the underground ruins as well as the odd case of brass tubes. The employee said it would cost 10 gold coins and 30 silver coins to have the pistol cleaned and repaired. As for the mysterious tubes, he examined one of them and determine they were an old form of ammunition for ancient guns, a combination of a projectile and sparkpowder all in one easy-to-use package. I thanked the employee for the information and left to see how the festival was going, leaving my pistol behind to get cleaned and repaired.

The festival was being held on the bottom floor at the tavern area which is where all the performances were being conducted. Isil and Melosh were there as representatives of the Drow people. Isil performed a belly-dancing routine with Freya dancing and cheering from the sidelines, obviously in an inebriated state. Cane was also there playing a mandolin to add some music to the performance and to raise everyone’s spirits. It was rather fun to watch so I just kept to the back of the audience as I let the more entertaining members of the party do their thing. After I got tired of standing around, I went back to the ship to claim a room for myself and turn in for the night.

When I got back, I learned that Cane had already claimed the captain’s quarters for himself. Lireal, Freya, and Isil had already set up shop in their own respective rooms, though I think Isil was actually rooming with Freya and her wolf. I walked around the living-quarters deck and eventually found an unoccupied room. Relieved, I opened the door and stepped in, taking a look around. Inside, there was a bed, a desk with a hutch and a chair, a bookcase, a dresser, and a sidetable already in there for me to use. I spent the remainder of the evening giving the room a quick clean before going to bed.

Once it was to my liking, I closed the door and relished in the fact that I had my own room to do with as I pleased. I took off my backpack and all my gear, setting them down on the desk for now. I then undressed to a comfortable state and laid on my new bed. There was a bit of dust but it wasn’t that bad. I’d have someone use their cleaning spell to make it brand new in the morning, but for now, it’d suffice. I rested my aching body and after a few moments of lying there lost in my thoughts, I fell asleep.

The next day was mainly spent doing chores and taking care of errands for myself as well as for the ship and crew. First, I got up and went into town to buy some things for my new room on the ship. I got myself a display mannequin for my armor when I wasn’t wearing it, a wall display for my weapon collection, a wall-mounted mirror, and some other decorative items to make my room more personalized and homey. Since Freya’s townsfolk were doing nothing after being rescued, I had some of them help me bring everything back to the ship. When I got back, I had everything arranged in my room the way I wanted then left to take care of more business. Since we no longer needed the carriage and cart, I talked with the others and we agreed to sell them for some extra spending money. I took care of the sale and we managed to get 250 gold coins from it. Of course, everyone moved their belongings to the ship before I sold it all. As for the oxen, we decided to keep them on the ship; the bottom deck had an area set aside and dedicated to be an animal pen for them.

After that, I went back into town to pick up my pistol, breastplate, and shoulder cape. While at the gun store, I also bought a holster for my pistol that could be secured to my belt. The repairs to my handgun went smoothly and it looked and functioned perfectly. After that, I picked up my breastplate from the armorsmith which looked amazing with the new pauldrons added to it. He said it was hot so I had to bed extra careful while transporting it. Not wanting to deal with it while I meandered around the town, I went directly back to the ship to drop it off at my room. Once that was dealt with, I went to the tailor to pick up my cape only to find out that she had given it to Freya who was there earlier that the day. She said Freya was going to give it to me so I left to find her, which I couldn’t. I figured I’d deal with all that later and went to find a general store for a last-minute item. I had a nice wooden sign carved and stained for me which said “Koko’s Room”. I placed it on the door leading into my room on the ship. That way, people would know that the room was claimed by me. It only cost a couple copper coins so it was very much worth it.

When I brought the sign back to my room, I found a note in inside that Freya had left me. It said she left my cape somewhere in my room but it was up to me to find it. I immediately rolled my eyes at such childish games and went about searching every corner for it to no avail. I then looked for Freya and eventually found her on the ship. When I asked where she put it, she wouldn’t tell me saying and I had to find it on my own. I scoffed at her under my breath and left to take care of more pressing matters. The coal room was running low on supplies, so I enlisted the help of two of Freya’s villagers to help me bring back more coal. I bought three potato sack’s worth of coal for one gold coin. I didn’t know how long that was going to last, but it’d have to do for now. After dropping off the coal at the ship, I went up to the top deck to inspect the six ballistae there. The OSF had plenty on Broken Crescent Island, but I never got a close look at them. The rest of the day I spent getting my room in order and when it got late in the evening, I went to bed.

When I woke up the next day, I got some breakfast down at the tavern. Before I left, I donned my new breastplate and pauldron armor on. It fit nice and snug and looked pretty nice along with the red shoulder cape I finally found in my room. I also had my pistol at my side as well as my new sword. I felt a lot better with all the upgrades I recently got so I decided to show it all off. While I was eating breakfast, I saw Freya sitting at one of the tables there with a mysterious, cloaked figure. After I was done with my food, I went over to the two of them and sat down beside Freya to see what they were up to. The cloaked man was a high-elf by the name of Bartolomeu (originally introduced as Bernard I think?) and he was a cartographer. While I sat there, he talked about his journeys and the many maps that he had made around the land. Freya and I figured that someone who knew the area in detail could prove useful on our new ship. When we mentioned that we were adventurers with a flying ship, he suddenly gave us his full-attention. It seemed that he wanted to come along with us so we made a deal. We came to an agreement where he would offer us his services for free in exchange for safe passage on our ship. He could go where we went and make his maps in a relatively safe environment, and if we needed some navigation information, he would help us out. Once the deal was set, Bartolomeu packed up his things and said he wanted to see the ship as soon as possible, so when he was ready, we escorted him back there.

Bartolomeu was amazed at the sight of the ship as it hovered high above him. We made our way back onboard and found everyone on the top deck for some reason. As soon as Freya and I got back onboard, a large ray of light shined down from the sky onto the middle of the deck. We all took a step back from it as a large figure emerged from the center of the light. It was a Goliath and he introduced himself simply as the Mountain. He explained that he was tasked by Roan’s patron god to take his place in our party or something. I can’t remember everything but what I do remember is that the two knew each other somehow. Once he was done talking, he asked if there was something he could do to help around the ship. I sarcastically said that he could shovel coal along with Melosh and Drake (Freya’s former bestfriend). I continued up the farce until this led to that where I eventually persuaded the Mountain that being a coal-shoveler was a very prestigious job and that he should be honored to be assigned to doing it.

After Mountain and Bartolomeu were settled in as our newest members to the crew, Cane piloted the ship towards Freya’s hometown of Dawsburry. Freya was still very worried about her home as were the rest of her townsfolk that we saved from the Empire’s clutches. We made haste and eventually arrived there, landing about a mile away from the town to avoid possible detection from any nearby enemies. We saw smoke and fire in the direction of Dawsburry so we figured it was best to keep our distance until we knew what was going on. Once we touched down, Freya ran off by herself towards her home in a reckless manner followed by Rollo. Seeing her run off, everyone hurried after her while I stayed behind to watch the ship.

Several moments passed and I was soon joined by the rest of Freya’s villagers up on the top deck, looking at their home burn in the distance. Eventually, Drake found himself on the top deck looking out as well. Once I noticed him beside me, I confronted him about his lack of initiative. I guess it was my new outfit that inspired me to do it, but I gave Drake a firm talking to and convinced him to lead the rest of his fellow villagers back to Dawsburry and take it back by force. I then returned Drake’s axe to him after we confiscated it from him earlier when we detained him. I told him he was in command of his troops and that he shouldn’t let them down. He seemed very fired up by my words as were the rest of the townsfolk. He then disembarked with them in tow and took up arms to help Freya and the others take back Dawsburry. I waved from the top deck as I found myself alone once again onboard the ship… just the way I liked it.

Fortunately for me, no one tried to board the ship unannounced and I got to sit back and relax while the others helped Freya on her personal mission. To be honest, I was tired from the last adventure and just wanted to enjoy the luxury of the new ship. Minutes passed and I could hear some people approaching. It was Lireal and the rest of the group except for Freya. When they met me up top, they explained everything that happened in town. Freya was able to get back to her home but when she did, she found her father dead and her mother missing. Apparently, her father died fighting to the end against Empire soldiers who stormed their house. After that, Freya and the others fought a small detachment of Empire soldiers and defeated them with extreme prejudice. Luckily, they were regular soldiers and not conscripts from Dawsburry. After defeating the soldiers, they went to the village jail and met up with Drake and the other villagers who wanted to help fight. At the jail, they told me that they found Freya’s mother (Eleanor) alive and well. Meanwhile, they said that the town’s leadership (Drake’s father, the mayor of Dawsburry whose name was Sven, and the town apothecary whose name was Titania) was protecting some old tree using a magical forcefield. After securing the jail, they went to take care of the last batch of Empire soldiers with the help of Drake and the villagers. The last of the troops were defeated and the town was successfully liberated from the Empire’s grasp. As it got late, they decided to return to the ship to rest except for Freya who wanted to stay with what was left of her family.

After Lireal and the others were done explaining everything, I reached into my pack and pulled out a scroll that I thought could help. I showed Lireal the Resurrection scroll, still not knowing what it did at the time since I constantly forgot that I had it and never got it examined. When Lireal looked the scroll over, she told me that it could bring anyone back to life as long as they had died within the last five years. Immediately after she said that, I winced on the inside and almost regretted having handed it over. Having known that and the immense power that it had, I thought to myself that I could have used it to bring back my mother who had only passed away a year or two ago. I didn’t know the exact amount of time that had passed since then, but it was surely no more than five years. The more I thought about it, the more it hurt, but in the end, I let Lireal have the scroll to give to Freya so that her father could live again. In the end, my mother died of somewhat natural causes and I had already come to terms with it. She had an illness that could not be cured so nothing could have been done about it. Freya’s father, however, was murdered unjustly and so his life was ended prematurely. That’s what I told myself in order to keep from feeling grief over giving away the scroll so willingly. After Lireal and the others returned to Dawsburry to give Freya the scroll, I retired back to my room and cried myself to sleep.

After taking a short nap, I was suddenly awoken by a knock on my door. It was Moros and the others were giving him a tour of the ship after he suddenly returned from his mission at his college. I told them I wasn’t in any mood to have visitors but was glad to hear that Moros was back with us. While they were there, they also told me that the scroll worked and Freya was happily reunited with her father. I almost broke down in tears at that point but told them I was happy for her before politely telling them to leave. When they left, I went back to bed, but before I could doze off, there was another knock at my door. It was Mountain and he was looking for Lireal. I told him that I hadn’t seen her then closed the door, more annoyed that time as I laid back on my bed.

The next day, we departed from Dawsburry and returned back to Dwarforge. Freya stayed behind to catch up with her folks and to take care of the post-Empire occupation mess. I was feeling a bit better when I woke up and tried to focus on being productive to keep my mind at ease. The ship was in dire need of repairs from centuries of neglect and also could use more supplies in the form of food, water, and coal. I figured I should take on those tasks and got to work on finding out how I could take care of it all.

After getting back to Dwarforge, I found out about a corps of Dwarven engineers that said they’d be willing to repair the ship so long as they could inspect the vessel and learn more about it while they worked. Their end goal was learning enough about the ship to build one of their own, so they used that as a means to lower the price of repairs for us. We didn’t care if they used the information gained from repairing our ship to build their own so we agreed. The engineers said it’d take a month or so to finish the repairs if we wanted to get everything we requested done. Since we had plenty of time, I went about taking care of other pieces of business.

I did a lot of shopping for myself and got several different items from all over the shopping district. It was a nice distraction and I was still glad I had some money left over from the last job we did. While I was out there, I thought about other distractions that I could partake in. I didn’t have many hobbies except for swimming, hiking, and other outdoorsy stuff. I needed something to preoccupy myself with while on the ship. Thinking back to my days as a trainee trying to become a member of the OSF, I remembered how much I enjoyed mentoring and teaching others stuff. It was fun and eventually this led to that in my head then I finally came up with an idea. I thought, why not hire a maid to help me out on the ship? I’ve always loved the idea of having a maid take care of all the boring stuff I didn’t want to do and in return, I could teach them all sorts of things to make them more competent and diverse in skills. It was the perfect distraction so I went about looking for a way to get a maid to hire. I hadn’t the slightest clue how I was going to do it, but I was having so much fun just thinking about it to just stop and plan things out.

Eventually, I found myself in front of some odd slavery shop which was something I never thought I find myself in front of. Slavery was such a horrible institution, especially after what we’d been through in the colosseum. The establishment made me feel uneasy, but I went in anyway with the hopes of finding suitable maid material. Of course, if I did find someone there, I wasn’t going to straight up buy them against their will and force them to be my maid. No. That was completely out of the question. Instead, I was going to give them an offer then draft up a contract of employment to give to them. Then, if they agreed, I was going to pay their price then give them their freedom to carry out the contract on their own accord. There was a chance that once I gave them their freedom that they’d just split without a second thought, but I trusted myself to pick the right one who wouldn’t do that. I quickly exchanged some words with the owner of the shop but didn’t find anyone suitable to be my maid. That and the fact that the whole slavery thing made me feel nervous caused me to leave rather quickly and return to the ship.

When I got back, I came across Moros and told him about the slavery nonsense I came across. He was rather perturbed by the news and promptly left. I didn’t think anything of it and went back to my room to think things over. I figured the best way to find a maid was to just make “Help Wanted” posters and place them around the city. That way, I could just wait for potential maids to come to me instead. I wrote on the poster “Looking for a young adult female to perform maid work. Perks include housing, travel, food, and a once-in-a-lifetime experience.” It was coming along nicely, I thought.

While I was making the first poster, I heard a commotion coming from Lireal’s room down the hall. I went to investigate and when I opened the door to her room, I saw an unknown Tiefling girl wearing rags sitting next to Lireal. Lireal and I talked with the Tiefling and she said her name was Laura and she was a slave. She told us that one moment she was in Dwarforge and then the next she was there on the ship. She explained that a person closely resembling Moros had visited the slave trader and was causing trouble. We brought her to Moros’ room and told her to stay put while we went to see what he was up to.

Lireal and I went back into town and split up to try and find him. I told Lireal where to find the slave trader and she left to go try there. Meanwhile, I thought I could try looking around the poor district, though not for Moros, but instead for a potential maid candidate. I was sure Lireal could handle whatever was going on with Moros, so I veered off to continue handling my own affairs. I walked down the lane, keeping an eye out for any potential candidates to try and enlist. Eventually, I came across a rather dejected looking young woman. I walked over to her and stood in front of her, asking what her name was. She said her name was Kasumi and that she was homeless, living in the slums with other unfortunate people stuck in Dwarforge with nothing to their name. She seemed all right but when I looked her in the eye, I could sense a certain feeling about her. Even though she mentioned that she was a year older than me, it didn’t stop me from trying to act as her superior in a professional sort of sense. I told her about the potential job I had for her and she seemed somewhat curious about it. After talking for a bit, she led me further into the slums and sat down at one of the communal tables to continue our conversation. We talked more about the job and she finally agreed to be my maid. I was ecstatic that she said yes and I was more than eager to begin her training. But first thing was first; she looked like a mess and if she was going to be my maid, she had to look the part.

After talking things over, she accompanied me out of the slums and back into the shopping district. I thought about looking for Moros and Lireal, but I was sure they were okay. I ended up getting some soap for Kasumi because she was in a serious need of a bath. I was used to bad odors coming from people, but she really smelled. With the soap purchased, I walked with her out of the town and to a nearby river to give her a bath. After some serious scrubbing and several rinses, she began to look more like a lady rather than a walking pile of dirt and grime. Once she was clean-er, we went back into town to find her some new clothes. I had her fitted and got her a nice, practical maid outfit and comfy winter coat. Once we had the clothes, we went back to the ship and I showed her to her new room. It was right next to mine and had a similar layout, minus all the extra furnishings I bought for my own room. I gave her the new clothes and had her try it all on. After a brief wait, she came out looking all nice and proper. Of course, I had to help her fix a few things but she was all set to begin her duties as my new maid and the newest member to our humble crew. I let her have the rest of the day to wander around the ship and introduce herself to the rest of the crew. In the meantime, I wrote up her contract and eventually had her sign it to seal her employment.

Eventually, Lireal and Moros returned to the ship except they weren’t alone. They were accompanied by all the slaves that were for sale at the slave trader’s storefront. At first, I was confused and thought they had actually gone and bought them all, but then they told me all about the encounter they had with the slave trader. It turned out that once Moros saw the slave trading, it struck a sour nerve with him. He confronted the man in charge and told him to stop his slaving practices or else. When the slave trader refused, Moros just simply killed him by striking him down where he stood. There was some trouble with the guards but Lireal and Moros managed to talk their way out of it. Moros got himself banned from entering the city and the slaves that were left were freed by Lireal and given the choice of coming with her and Moros or going on their own way. The former slaves decided to join our crew and followed Lireal and Moros back to the ship.

There were eleven of them in total and came from all sorts of races and sizes. There were three Tabaxi that joined the crew whose names were Calm-Passion (age 42), Little-Locket (age 12), and Tail-of-Wonder (age 25). They were assigned to the animal pens and armory. Next, there were also two elves whose names were Varis and Aego; they were assigned to the infirmary. There was a silver Dragonborn named Calder, who was assigned to the ballistae and ship security, and a fire genasi named Tara who volunteered to work in the coal room to provide fuel for Lykos. There were three mousefolk whose names I didn’t know neither did I know what they did around the ship. Lastly was the Tiefling from earlier named Tara. She worked in the library and sometimes with the livestock. Along with the newly acquired former slaves, a Dwarf engineer named Kadmos decided to join our crew to take care of on-the-spot repairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Kasumi's contract:
> 
> I, KASUMI , promise to obey the commands and wishes of her mistress, Koko Stormare, and hers alone.
> 
> ==ARTICLE I==  
> =SECTION I=  
> Clause 1. I promise to carry out my duties to the best of my ability for no less than 1-year otherwise forfeit the contract fee of 750 gold coins.  
> Clause 2. I understand that any expenses I might accrue during my employment under my mistress will be deducted from the 750 gold coins I am to obtain at the end of my contract.
> 
> ==ARTICLE II==  
> =SECTION I=  
> Clause 1. While in the employment of my mistress, I will treat her with the utmost respect.  
> Clause 2. I will maintain a clean and orderly appearance while keeping proper etiquette at all times.  
> Clause 3. I will not handle any of my mistress' belongings unless it directly relates to my duties as a maid in her employment.  
> Clause 4. I will not allow anyone other than my mistress into her chambers unless the individual is given direct permission by my mistress.  
> Clause 5. I have been authorized the use of lethal force in order to protect my mistress and her belongings.  
> Clause 6. I am not obligated to give my life in my mistress' defense but I am free to choose to do so; however, I am expected to give my full effort when defending my mistress if she is in danger.  
> Clause 7. I will not engage in any activity that would tarnish my mistress' image or put her in danger.  
> =SECTION II=  
> Clause 1. The duties to which I am charged with include but are not limited to:  
> -Making my mistress' bed  
> -Sweeping my mistress' floor  
> -Fetching my mistress food when asked  
> -Assisting with my mistress' burdens  
> -Cleaning my mistress' armor and weapons  
> -Safeguarding my mistress' well-being  
> =SECTION III=  
> Clause 1. I will not engage in intimate relations with any of the crew members (past, present, or future) -with the exception of the mistress with her permission- regardless if they are currently on the ship or not.  
> Clause 2. I will not take into my care or be responsible for any pets, children, slaves, assistants, family members, or any other living or non-living creature unless given permission by my mistress.  
> Clause 3. I will treat my mistress' fellow crew members and any ally of my mistress with respect and proper etiquette.  
> Clause 4. The orders of my mistress take precedence over those issued by anyone else, even if that individual is an official of the law.  
> =SECTION IV=  
> Clause 1. I am to keep in mind these key points about my mistress:  
> -Likes mangoes  
> -Dislikes apples  
> -Dislikes Gibbering Mouthers  
> -Dislikes scorpions  
> -Dislikes bullies
> 
> ==ARTICLE III==  
> =SECTION I=  
> Clause 1. If I feel my mistress has unfairly treated me or breached the bounds of my contract, I am free to consult with either Moros Harkon or Freya Blackthorn to bring the matter to my mistress' attention.  
> Clause 2. If a breach in the contract is found to be valid, I am free to dissolve the contract within 24-hours, but only receive payment for services rendered during my time in her employment.  
> Clause 3. If I do not dissolve the contract within 24-hours, I am bound to fulfill the remainder of the contract unless another breach occurs.  
> Clause 4. Alterations to the contract may occur but only if my mistress and I agree with the changes.
> 
> ==ARTICLE IV==  
> =SECTION I=  
> Clause 1. Failure to abide by the provisions outlined in this contract may warrant an early termination, forfeiture of benefits, criminal prosecution, a fine of up to 750 gold, or a combination of the aforementioned penalties at my mistress' discretion.
> 
> X________________________   
> Mistress' Signature
> 
> X________________________  
> Maid's Signature


	10. Chilled to the Bone

One month had passed since Freya and the others rescued her people at Dawsburry. During that time, the Dwarves finished up the repairs and upgrades to the ship on time just like they had said. While that was going on, I focused on training Kasumi in many different disciplines. Other than being able to speak, and barely at that, she had no other notable skills. I had to teach her how to read and write, how to handle a sword, basic exercises, proper mannerisms and etiquette, and several other things. In addition to teaching her the basics, I also bought a guide on how to be a better maid from Dwarforge to help me in my tutoring. At first, teaching her things was a bit frustrating as I had to start from scratch, but eventually, I began to enjoy it as Kasumi began to pick up on our lessons. Seeing the progress she was making was so satisfying that it encouraged me to keep going, teaching her more and more. Over the short amount of time, we became friends or at least, I’d like to think we were.

Once the ship was ready to go, we disembarked for Dawsburry and picked up Freya before heading further south. Freya was in much better spirits than when I last remember seeing her. Her family and hometown were safe and the Empire no longer had any influence over them. With her mind at ease, she returned to us with a renewed sense of determination.

Upon entering the tundra, we stopped at a small village to get some information and directions before continuing further. The town was called Burfell and we parked the ship on the outskirts then proceeded into the village on foot. While we were asking around for directions, the others met an elf who had a small quest for us. A group of halflings he was acquainted with had been taken hostage by a wizard, located in a tower within the tundra. The elf needed us to get them back for him and in return, he’d search for information about the third orb. We decided to take the mission in order to get some quick funds to buy supplies and cold-weather gear.

After getting the details, we took the ship and headed out to rescue the halflings. As the tower came into view, we approached from the air and tried to look for a place on the ground to land and begin our assault. It was snowing and the wind was blowing as we came in. Once we were able to touch down safely, we disembarked and engaged the orc forces that were stationed around the base of the tower. We took care of the orcs and finished securing the outside of the tower. During the battle, I managed to take down an orc on my own but I also somehow got my sword stuck in the ground at one point. It was humiliating, but the battle was just about over by then and I don’t think anyone saw me.

Once the orcs outside were taken care of, we went inside to take care of their leader. We burst into the ground floor of the tower and came across a wizard named Sourman who was toying with his halfling captives. There were four halflings just as the elf who gave us the mission had said. I remember, for some reason, that after I entered the tower, I felt some sort of strange attraction to one of the halfling prisoners. It wasn’t like a romantic kind of attraction, but more like an unknown magnetic attraction. It felt like my left eye burned as I looked in the direction of the halfling and I couldn’t explain it.

Before I could approach the halfling in question, the wizard attacked us. We engaged him in combat and eventually subdued him, but unfortunately, he disappeared before we could finish him off. After he was dealt with, I made my way over to the four halflings and found the one who seemed to be causing my eye to burn. The halfling’s name was Odorf and he appeared to be in possession of a unique kind of ring. I felt an overwhelming urge to just take the ring and as I reached out for it, Odorf tossed it to Lireal. I gave the halfling a sour look and left to see what everyone else was doing. While we were securing the area, Lireal spotted an altar with lots of suspicious looking treasure piled on top of it. It was good that she left it alone as it turned out to be some sort of mimic. Mountain had touched it with his axe then had to fight several mini mimics afterwards.

While the rest of the group was talking care of everything inside the tower, I went outside to organize scavenging operations. I told the members of the crew that were former slaves to collect anything of value and bring it back to the ship. They were to prioritize money, weapons, armor, and anything else we could possibly sell. I had Kasumi oversee the rest of the operation while I returned to the Moros and the others inside. She needed to get as much experience as she could, so a few leadership opportunities here and there couldn’t hurt. After Kasumi and the former slaves were done, they managed to gather several weapons and sets of armor as well as 560 copper coins and 88 silver coins. On my way back to the tower, I saw the four halfling captives crying over a dead Boar-Mare. I found it odd but didn’t pay all that much attention to them. Once everything was secured back on the ship, we headed back to Burfell to return the halflings to the elf.

On the way there, the other main party members and I met in the captain’s quarters to split the loot collected from the tower. While we split everything evenly, Lireal tossed me the gold ring that Odorf had given her earlier. As soon as I got it, I surprisingly felt a strong sense of relief and content upon receiving it. I put it on a silver chain then hung it around my neck, tucking it into my shirt. I didn’t care what it did or how much it cost; all that mattered was that it was safe in my possession. Looking back, it was a bit weird but a lot had happened since then. After taking my share of the loot, I went to take inventory of the goods we managed to loot. I had Kasumi help me and spent the rest of the day taking care of all that. We also did some sword practice on the top deck to keep her in shape and used to the cold. I also needed to get accustomed to the cold and tried not to let the discomfort get to me. I didn’t particularly like the cold and preferred the hot, tropical weather.

Upon returning to the village, we returned the halflings to the elf and collected our reward. We met the elf back at the inn and he told us what he managed to find about the missing orb in the tundra. He talked about a floating mountain that was protected by a constant blizzard that was probably magical in origin. The temperatures within the storm were too frigid for anything living to get through which made it difficult to access the mountain and the secrets held within.

While the others talked with the elf, Kasumi and I went to the general trader to try and sell some of the loot, but the general trader wasn’t interested in what we were trying to sell. I was irritated but kept it professional as I led Kasumi out and towards the local blacksmith. He was a bit more responsive to our negotiations and we finally settled on a deal. We were able to sell six battleaxes and eight sets of studded armor for 300 gold coins. While there, I also got two wooden training swords as an added bonus to be used in our training sessions. It wasn’t everything, but it was a fine start to getting more money for the group fund. After taking care of business, Kasumi and I grabbed a quick snack to eat then returned to the ship.

The next day, we found out about a small fishing village that could possibly hold the answer to our blizzard problem. Once we were ready, we disembarked for the fishing village and arrived there after about a week of traveling. The fishing village was called Toft and it didn’t have very much other than a few huts here and there. When we got there, the others went about talking with the locals while Kasumi and I went to inspect the dead whale the villagers had just killed. Diplomacy and information gathering weren’t my specialty, so I decided to leave all that to the others.

As I approached the heaping pile of dead flesh and blubber, I covered my nose at the nauseating smell. I made sure no one was around and took some samples of the blubber from the whale. I then had Kasumi retrieve an empty glass jar from the ship and got some whale oil as well. Once I was done inspecting the dead carcass, I went back to the ship to see how we could make use of the whale by-products the villagers may not want. I went into the coal room and met up with Lykos to ask if the blubber or oil could be used as fuel. I gave him a little bit of each and Lykos seemed to enjoy them. After that, I waited on the top deck for the others to stop talking with all the townsfolk. I wanted to visit the general merchant if there was one around.

After everyone was done talking, the locals left to continue with whatever they were doing before the ship arrived. Freya decided to try her luck at some fishing and found some fishing gear. She then found a nearby hole in the ice to fish. While she was fishing, an Aboleth burst through the ice and attacked her. Isil and Lireal immediately went to her aid while Cane piloted the ship closer for better support. I was on the ship for most of the time, so I missed out on a majority of the battle and didn’t manage to get there until the very end. I manned one of the ballistae but didn’t get a chance to fire. During the fight, the creature had managed to charm Isil who in turn charmed Freya at one point. It was a very difficult battle from what I had gathered. I even heard that at the end, Isil was knocked out by a single punch from Mountain. I wasn’t sure why he did it, it was just what I had heard from the others. Isil and Freya got pretty beat up during the battle and at the end, they were left in a very critical condition.

Once it was safe, Lireal dragged Freya into the nearby longhouse to get healed by the village’s healers. The villagers had done all they could but Freya still had some lingering injuries and afflictions. Not wanting to lose his friend, Moros sent Freya to his college to get fully healed by more knowledgeable experts. Meanwhile, Isil was taken back to the ship and healed in the infirmary. Fortunately for her, we managed to get all her injuries squared away.

After taking care of the wounded, we went about securing the area and preparing for our next move. The others inspected the Aboleth whose corpse was polluting the surrounding waters. Lireal inspected the corpse and learned from the locals how to make a potion using the Aboleth’s blood. While she was with the locals, she explained our mission and found out about some artifacts the villagers had that could prove useful for us, but they were hesitant about lending them out.

While Lireal was doing that, I went about taking care of some trading while we had the opportunity. I was able to make a deal with the locals and got seven barrels of whale blubber and ten barrels of whale oil in exchange for five heavy crossbows complete with ammunition. The barrels were sent to the coal room to be used for fuel. In addition to that, I had some of the crew collect ice for the ship’s pantry so we could store perishable food better.

Later, with the village leaders’ permission, I went with Lireal to pick up some magical cold-resistant gear that the locals were going to lend us in exchange for killing the Aboloth. The gear seemed to be treasures or ancient artifacts that were very important to the locals. The sets of artifacts each included: anklets, a set of rings for each hand, a necklace, and a tiara. When all pieces are worn in conjunction, it protected the wearer from extreme cold while in the blizzard. It would still be cold, but it didn’t hurt the wearer for being exposed to the elements. After collecting the items, a set was distributed to each of us (myself, Lireal, Isil, and Mountain); Moros didn’t need it and had his own set of magical gear to protect him. Meanwhile, Cane was going to stay with the ship and supervise the rest of the crew.

Once we had everything ready, Moros and Mountain teleported ahead to find a safe path through the blizzard while the rest waited back on the ship. The flying ship couldn’t operate in the harsh blizzard winds and the option of going on foot was off the table. The plan was that Moros and Mountain would scout ahead then come back for us once they found a safe way to get to the base of the frozen mountain.

When Moros and Mountain returned, my memories up to a certain point were a blurry mess. I couldn’t remember exactly what happened but eventually, we ended up in a town underneath the floating mountain. I think we went through some sort of underground tunnels, I think. The town Moros and Mountain found was inhabited by Nymphs, or something, as well as elves, maybe? I can’t remember.

When we were all back at the town, the party talked with whoever was in-charge and received badges to wear. The badges signified that we’d keep the existence of the city, which was called Lyfeasari, a secret. The party was then told that giants from above had been harassing the people of Lyfeasari and we were tasked of stopping the raids. An additional objective of rescuing any captured prisoners the giants may have had was also given to us. They said the Governor’s daughter might be among them, so we told them we’d keep a look out for her in particular.

After the briefing, we were taken to the armory to gear up and prepare for our journey to the giant’s stronghold above. Luckily for me, the people of Lyfeasari were familiar with firearms and had been using them for a while. I took one of their refurbished rifles as well as some extra ball bearings and sparkpowder. In addition to weapons, we were all given a curious pack that they said would come in handy once we were done with our mission. They said that the pack would release a large cloth at the pull of a string that would slow our descent if we happened to fall from a high place. They called it a parachute. I strapped it to the bottom of my backpack for when the time came later on. Once we were all geared up, we headed back to the Blue Glacier Inn to rest before starting our mission.


	11. The Bigger they Are…

The next day, we headed out to begin our ascent towards the giant’s territory. There were ladders that descended from above that the giants used to assault the town below, though they were currently pulled up and unreachable. The rungs were too big and high for us to use, so we fashioned a rope ladder to drop down from above. Since Moros was able to teleport over farther distances than the rest of the magic users, he and Mountain teleported to the top and dropped the ladders down for the rest of us to use. Lireal teleported me up to the giant’s ladder and from there, I was able to grab on to the rope ladder. Isil also teleported up to us and got a hold of the rope ladder. Isil, Lireal, and I continued to climb up and rendezvoused with Mountain and Moros up top.

When we were all back together, we continued through the icy corridors towards the giants’ stronghold. It took a while, but we managed to infiltrate the compound after haphazardly getting through some traps and things like that which included a lot of liquid, large doors, and winding passageways. We also encountered some Yetis, but the group took care of them no problem. Continuing on, we started to encounter some of the giants there. The first one we found was a Frost Giant. It was a tough fight, but we managed to kill it; however, another Frost Giant escaped to call in reinforcements.

After the giant left, we heard a distressed voice coming from another passage, so Isil and I left the others to investigate. When Isil and I got to the room, we found it was decorated very lavishly with giant-sized furniture and adornments all around. There were animal pelts, silverware, and other fine items scattered about the room. In the back of the room was a female Storm Giant chained to the wall. Isil and I managed to free the giant and she introduced herself as Gwen. She said she was a prisoner of the Frost Giants and voiced her great displeasure with them. Gwen said she’d accompany us as long as she got to exact her revenge on her captors. Isil and I welcomed her to the group and got to ride on her shoulders while we directed her back to the others.

When we met up with them, we found them fighting off the Frost Giant reinforcements. Luckily, Gwen was willing to help with the fighting and fired a large lightning bolt from her finger, killing one of the giants on the spot. After taking care of the other giants, we all decided to head back to where we found Gwen to take a short rest.

While we were resting, I took the opportunity to loot a few things. There was giant-sized ivory flagon that had a couple gemstones inlaid in it. The flagon was much too large for me to take, but the gemstones weren't. I used my sword and pried out a fist-sized ruby and emerald. After getting the gems, I took my waterskin and poured it out to replace it with some of the giant's fine wine that was there. I only had water in it so it was a fair trade in my opinion. Water for fine wine? Done. I was sure I’d find some water later on if I really needed it. I also made some rations using the food there on the table and wrapping it in cloth.

Once we were rested, we continued on through the complex. We encountered a couple more giants, except this one was a Fire Giant and his servant. They seemed to be emissaries from elsewhere and sent to form some sort of an alliance with the Frost Giants. We guessed the Fire Giant was supposed to meet with the leader of the Frost Giants which went by the title of Jarl. When we met them, they were immediately hostile so we put them down. There was a lot of loot around with sacks containing thousands of gold coins. As much as we would’ve like to, we couldn't take it all, so we pocketed as much as we could. Not to fret, though. We came back and gutted the mountain of everything later on. Once we took care of the two giants, we continued on and arrived at a dead end. It was an old storage room with racks of wine. Most of it was spoiled, but I managed to spot a couple that were still good. I pointed them out to Gwen and she happily took a swig from one of the bottles.

We back-tracked out of the storage room and tried another route. Coming across another room, we were attacked by seven or so ice toads. I managed to get the final hit on a couple of them despite being half frozen for the icy cold air. The cold was constantly bothering me and hindering my fighting ability, but it wasn't overwhelming at the moment. While we searched the room, we found more gold that we couldn't carry and took note of it. Moros managed to find a map on a dead giant that was crushed by rubble some time ago. We marked it with the locations of treasure we still had to loot when we came back.

Continuing on, we found ourselves in a cave system that opened up into a large cavern. As we entered, we encountered a pair of young white dragons perched on top of a cliff. With no other choice, we engaged them and defeated them with the help of Gwen. They were a lot easier to fight than the large, red dragon from the ruins underneath Dwarforge, though, having a very powerful Storm Giant also helped. Once the dragons were dealt with, we had unrestricted access to their treasure horde. I wanted to take my time and sift through it all, but all of us had little room left for more loot. We made sure to mark it on the map then continued on.

Through our wandering around, we found an old provisions room and took the opportunity to rest and recover after the fight. While we were there, Freya suddenly teleported back to us from Moros' college, completely healed and sporting fancy gifts from the college to help her in the magical freezing cold. We were glad to see that she was okay, and after a brief welcome, we set up camp to get some sleep.

When I woke up the next day, I ate one of the rations I made from the giants' food. It was quite good and I as surprised at how it held up in the freezing cold. After breakfast, we all continued on through the giants’ lair. We found a secret passage and encountered a giant about to sound the alarm. Luckily, Lireal was ready with a spell and banished him before he could alert the others. Still undetected, we continued on and arrived inside some bedchambers. There was a Cloud Giant there and he wasn't too happy with us showing up uninvited. He attacked us with his morning star, so we had no choice but to take him out. He seemed to be another envoy to strike a deal with the Frost Giants and their leader, the Jarl.

After leaving the bedchambers, we encountered an Oni but managed to bypass a fight since he believed me and the others were Gwen's servants. We used the misunderstanding to our advantage and hurried passed it without any trouble. We entered a large, cavernous room and encountered another Frost Giant. The servant façade didn't work on that giant so we were forced to fight it. We managed to kill the initial giant before our cover was blown, but two more enemies came to assist it. They were a Frost Giant and a Frost Giant Everlasting. These two were a bit more difficult but we managed to defeat them. Gwen sustained some serious injuries, however, but she persisted on continuing on.

Once we were patched up as well as we could, we continued on and entered a large viewing room of sorts. It also appeared to be the Jarl's trophy room as there were weapons, animal pelts, armor, and other items displayed on the walls. There were a lot of interesting items but for the moment, I settled on a set of eleven intricate-looking crossbow bolts. Even though I didn’t have or use a crossbow, I thought they’d be an interesting souvenir. While we were looting, an alarm was suddenly triggered by a trapped item.

Hearing the alarm, the leader of the Frost Giants (the Jarl), his wife (Estia), and two ice wolves came out to greet us, and by greet, I mean tear us limb from limb. We readied ourselves and fought them head-on. We took out the wolves first followed by the Jarl himself. His wife was the last to go down. She was on death's door as she tried to crawl her way over to Freya who had delivered the final blow to her husband. Before she could reach Freya, I stood between her and her target. The giant barely had any life left in her as I took my rifle and aimed it between her eyes, pulling the trigger and ending the fight for good.

With the giants finally pacified, we took our time looting the throne room, trophy area, and bedchambers. I immediately went for the Jarl but found nothing small enough that I could use. I then went into the bedchambers and looked around. I managed to scrounge up fifty platinum coins, a sapphire, and an amethyst. I also received an enchanted necklace called the Periapt of Health from Moros. While we were looting, Gwen said her mission was complete and was going to head back home. We bid her farewell and she left to return to her home somewhere north of where we were. She said we were always welcome to visit her there if we were ever in the area. When we were done looting, we continued on through a passageway which we hoped led out of the mountain. We hadn't found the missing Lyfeasari captives yet, but we hoped we'd find them on our way out.

The passage led out of what we assumed was the giants' palace as the walls became more natural and the surroundings less artificial looking. After hiking for a bit, we came to a large door flanked by two statues. We had no idea what lay ahead, so we took a break and set up camp in a clearing away from the door and statues. While we rested, Lireal remembered the dragon skins she lent Gwen to keep her warm. She, Freya, and Mountain hurried and back-tracked to find her and retrieve the skins. There was no way they were going to catch up with her, so I stayed at the camp with Moros and Isil. Like I had predicted, they came back empty handed, so once we were all together, we took a long rest before continuing on.

After a nice nap, we had some breakfast consisting of rations before continuing on. While we ate, Mountain explained some history and lore regarding himself, but honestly, I can't remember any of it. I must've been too distracted by the cold and my frozen rations to retain any of it. When we were ready to go, we approached the statues and the door between them. Freya said when she first approached, the statues talked to her, but this time, they were silent. Treading carefully, we walked up to the door and entered. Nothing bad had happened yet, so we continued inside and found ourselves in a room with eight skeletons embedded in the walls. The skeletons were all wearing plate armor but seemed to be just decoration, but of course, we should have known better.

I don't remember what happened next as I was told Freya and I spent the battle talking gibberish and mindlessly walking around. The others said we were caught up in some sort of insight trap or whatever as the skeletons came to life and attacked everyone. Fortunately, the others took care of the enemies and protected us during our stupor. After the battle, we were still out of it, so Mountain carried me and Freya until we broke out of our ramblings.

When the party came to another room, the Mountain tossed me and Freya through the door to possibly avoid another trap. Eventually, I broke out of whatever was messing with my head as did Freya. We found ourselves in a room with an intricate mosaic of a Chimera and a knight on the floor. I took a moment to shake everything off as everyone else looked around. Moros went and got a closer look at the Chimera mosaic, and when he did, it came to life and began to attack us. It was an odd fight because of its profile, but we managed to take it down. After it was "killed", I took three of the small, square tiles that composed it. I got a red, blue, and yellow tile from the large pile on the ground.

After the battle, Lireal, Moros, and Freya tried to open a passage they found but instead caused the surrounding hallway to collapse. Seeing as how our immediate way forward was blocked, we had to search around for an alternate path. While I was searching, I came across a small pressure plate on the floor that was covered by some of the Chimera tiles. Freya and Mountain went to investigate a small side room while we inspected the pressure plate and a downward passage in front of it.

The hallway we found seemed to be trapped somehow. Pressure plates or some kind of trigger caused a large ball made of skeletons to come crashing down from the ceiling. It then rolled down the corridor and disappeared into the darkness. Lireal triggered it the first time using a spell which caused the ball to fall. Mountain tried to trigger it again using a large boulder but nothing happened. We continued to probe and figure out the trap until we had a somewhat comfortable feel for it. Since the trap didn't activate up until a certain point, or so we thought, we cautiously proceeded down the corridor to see what we could find.

As we were carefully making our way down, I spotted a hidden panel in the wall which led to a servant's pulley lift. Since we had no other way to go except for the trapped hallway in front of us, we decided to give it a look. Freya decided to go first and shimmied into the passageway to investigate it. Once she gave the all clear, Isil went in after her to see what was down there. They rode the lift down and found a hidden bedchamber. She said it was rather elegant looking except it was guarded by wraiths.

Freya and Isil moved into position followed by Mountain who was barely able to move in the confined quarters. The others engaged the four wraiths in battle and quickly cleared the bedchambers out of hostiles. Once it was clear, we all regrouped down in the bedchambers and began searching for a way out. While we were doing that, we took the opportunity to do a little looting. Freya found a chest full of expensive-looking robes so I went over to snag a couple. I managed to get a nice white robe with gold trim and a more casual red robe with semi-transparent portions.

We eventually found a small staircase that led out of the bedchambers and into another room. Once we entered the room after climbing the stairs, we were attacked by two Ice Devils which we defeated. After the battle, we went back to the bedchambers for a quick rest before continuing on. I got stuck on last watch, so when it was my turn, I did some quick maintenance on my rifle and pistol while I had some downtime.

After a quick breakfast which consisted of rations, we continued on. We came to an area with two possible routes. We decided to temporarily split into two groups with me, Lireal, and Moros in one group and Freya, Isil, and Mountain in the other. My group left and encountered a room with a mysterious male with a white beard and a purple toga sitting on a throne. In front of him was what appeared to be offerings of all sorts which ranged greatly in value. There were intricate pieces of jewelry and pottery to scraps of decayed food and copper coins. Along with the offering alter, there were two large doors on the opposite side of the room from him.

As we moved further into the room, the toga-wearing figure addressed us and said to make an offering if we wanted wisdom or something like that. Lireal offered a gemstone and a silver drinking horn. Moros offered a priceless artifact he got from the Illithid lair; it seemed to be a miniature version of the illuminated wall and had buttons or toggles on it. It was very strange. Unable to top those offerings, I just gave him my flask of giant's wine which seemed to be just as acceptable as the other offerings. Once we had each given something, one of the two doors opened.

The room that opened up seemed to be a library except almost all of the shelves were empty and missing books. We ventured inside and met a ghost that introduced itself as Eda, Dedarius' long-deceased apprentice. From what I remember, or think I remember, the ghost was rather annoying so we ignored it and continued into the next room. There, we found a large pile of bones which we surmised was where the ball of skeletons used for the earlier trap ended up. Seeing as how we made a loop and were not going to make any progress heading in that direction, we returned to the library. The ghost continued to yammer on so we went back out to where the offering alter was.

We regrouped with the others who didn't find anything as well along their route. When they encountered the toga man, they offered up something as well. Mountain seemed to be intrigued with the device Moros offered and took the item, replacing it with two gold coins. The bearded man didn't seem to like that and rose from his seat, revealing his true appearance. It seemed that his regal image was just a hologram and instead he appeared to be a Clay Golem. I was in the library when the fight started, so when I heard the commotion, I just watched from the entrance as I stood in the doorway. I figured the others could handle it since it was their fault for causing the thing to attack, and just as I had suspected, they managed to defeat it. Since the guardian of the offerings was gone, I went back and retrieved my flask of wine. I also took a fine silver necklace that was left ages ago as an offering.

After the fight with the golem, we went back into the library to talk with the ghost. It seemed that it was bound to the confines of the library, so we decided to interrogate it for information while we were there. She was still irate and uncooperative, so Moros found out what was troubling her and returned the missing book that Eda was looking for. Apparently, it was in Dedarius' bedchambers all this time and Moros picked it up while we were there. After helping her out, she told us about her time as Dedarius' apprentice and about the Divination Pool that Freya and Mountain had found earlier. Once we learned everything we needed, we bid her farewell and went to the Divination Pool which was where the entrance to Dedarius' tomb was.


	12. Coldhearted

When we entered the tomb, we were greeted by the ghost of Dedarius who had a job for us. Apparently, some powerful entity had desecrated his tomb with its presence and resided somewhere in the mountain. He wanted us to eliminate said entity and return his resting place to peace. The target in question was named Queen Shiva or more commonly known as Lady Iceheart. Once we were given our task, a passageway opened up that led to an ascending flight of stairs. We told the ghost that we would take care of it and went up the stairs, coming to an ornate set of double doors.

Upon opening the doors, we saw a hallway with paintings on the walls. It turned out that we had stumbled upon a puzzle room and the paintings were magical in nature. I never had a knack for solving puzzles or riddles, so I let the others take the lead on solving it. Freya eventually figured it out with the help of the others and got us through to the next room. I took one of the paintbrushes they used to solve the puzzle as a souvenir.

The next room we came across also turned out to be a puzzle room. There was a large depiction of what seemed to be a treasure chest mimic on the floor in the center of the room. On the sides of the room were six chests, three on each side, with another chest set behind iron bars at the opposite side of the entrance. Once we were inside, the others quickly went about trying to solve the puzzle. Like last time, I stayed off to the side and watched them work. While we were there, we had to fight three mimics, but they were hardly a challenge. Surprisingly, the others managed to open the door without fully solving the puzzle first, but Freya eventually solved it just as we were about to leave.

After that, we were greeted with another flight of stairs once we went through the door, so up we went. While we were climbing the stairs, Mountain pulled out a magic wand and cast something on Lireal. When she turned around to see who did it, she thought I was the one. I gave her confused look and she didn't push the matter further. At the end of the stairs, we encountered a vampire flanked by two zombies guarding the way forward. Lireal took the lead and lied to try and get us through. It worked and we were able to pass without further confrontation from the guards.

After getting passed the guards, we arrived in front of an arena type setting. Down below in the actual arena, there seemed to be prisoners fighting against some sort of large, ferocious creature. Seeing it all sent me back to remembering our own time fighting in a similar arena. It made my blood boil and I wanted to kill whoever was in-charge so badly. I'm not sure how it happened, though, but I lost control of my body and suddenly found myself springing into action, jumping down into the arena below with the prisoners. Mountain also joined me for some reason despite not having been with us in the beginning. Even so, we started fighting alongside the people who seemed like they were being forced to fight. The others quickly joined in and Lireal ended up banishing the creature which was later identified as a Roc.

The individual who was watching got up from his seat and confronted us for stopping his entertainment. Upon closer inspection, the person appeared to be a vampire and was a loyal servant to Queen Shiva. I gave him a look of dread and hate, but I managed to keep my cool. Lireal stepped up and tried to talk our way out of what happened. She told him that she had bought the slaves from Queen Shiva and that they were hers to do with as she pleased. After some back and forth banter, the servant relented and let Lireal take the slaves without any more trouble. We gathered the slaves up and took count of who was there. They all seemed to be denizens of Lyfeasari and the group even included the Governor's daughter. The prisoners said they wouldn't have survived as long as they had without her leadership. We took care of any serious wounds they had before Isil volunteered to lead them all back to Dedarius' tomb for safety.

Once the prisoners were secured, we continued on to try and find Queen Shiva. We entered a room guarded by a Succubus and a couple other undead guards. Lireal took the lead again and managed to talk our way through the security checkpoint. We continued on passed them and entered a large room with circles containing various creatures. It seemed like it was a prison or something and it was guarded by zombies, Wights, and a Dread Warrior. Luckily, there weren't any Lyfeasari prisoners present so we didn't need to worry about freeing anyone. The guards noticed us as we entered so we were forced to fight them. I managed to finish off one of the Wights and the Dread Warrior during the battle.

Afterwards, we continued on and encountered a trapped hallway with magical darkness, but it wasn't an issue getting passed it. The real problem was the room at the end of the hallway. Inside, we faced an undead Sourman who apparently was turned into a lich. Along with him, there were a few guards accompanying him. We immediately engaged in combat and managed to defeat the lich and his guards. Once they were gone, we took a moment to search around for anything useful.

I rummaged around the desk in the room and found a curious letter. It appeared to be written by the lich, Sourman, and was addressed to Queen Shiva. It was mainly a letter asking for forgiveness for his many failures and even mentioned us during the first encounter we had with him in the tower with the captive halflings. I decided to keep the letter as a humorous trophy and reminder of our exploits. I also found a copy of a key the lich had and figured it might come in handy later if we needed to unlock something. While Mountain was rummaging around the room, he found a locked drawer full of platinum coins. I took ten of them since there were plenty of them to go around. Inside the drawer was another letter which Mountain took. Once he opened it, it exploded due to it being rigged with a rune. Thankfully, he wasn’t harmed and just set it aside. After looting, we took a short rest in the room before moving on.

Once we were rested, we continued on to end Queen Shiva’s reign of frozen terror. There was a torture room, but we managed to sneak through it as well as talk our way through the next one. After all that, we came upon a trap room with reversed gravity properties. It took a while, but we all managed to get through the trap room together. Moros teleported me and himself to the other side while Lireal teleported herself. From there, I took my rope and tossed it over to Freya to help her out while Mountain managed to jump over on his own. After that room, we came across another trap room which dealt with teleportation. I was getting real sick of traps and puzzles, so like usual, I waited for someone else to figure it out. Eventually, we all ended up at the same place, so we continued up using the staircase in the pillars.

After the climb up, we found ourselves in a wine cellar before ending up in a kitchen filled with frozen food. There wasn't anything we could do with the food, so we moved on. We found a balcony with a permanent teleportation sigil on the ground. It was still fierce blizzard conditions outside so we didn’t venture too far onto the balcony. I didn't know how the teleportation sigil worked, but Moros seemed to know. We took note of it before moving on. We went up some stairs and arrived at an amphitheater that appeared to be at the very top of the mountain.

Upon stepping out into the open, we saw Queen Shiva herself standing there as if she were waiting for us all. All around her and the surrounding amphitheater were frozen figures. We couldn't tell from where we were who the figures were, only that they were humanoid. We readied ourselves as we kept our eyes on Queen Shiva who was situated in the stands directly across from us. After a few tense moments, the fighting began.

The fight was long and grueling, but in the end, we persevered. Queen Shiva was defeated and the magical blizzard that had been raging for decades had finally ceased. As the queen lay on the ground in her dying moments, we all surrounded her and interrogated her while she still drew breath. After she breathed her last, Lireal ripped the Blue Orb from her chest and added it to the others. Once the orb was secure, we took a moment to relax and went about looting the surrounding area.

Among the frozen bodies, the others found one that was surprisingly still alive. A magical barrier had kept the person alive while imprisoned in his frozen cocoon. He introduced himself as Idu and wanted to accompany us for the time being. While they were talking with him, I climbed the steps of the amphitheater and looked over the edge, seeing a vast expanse of land now that the blizzard had subsided. On the way down to rendezvous with the others, I tripped over a curious artifact. It was an elegant sword, a rapier that had a certain magical aura about it. I couldn't place my finger on the specifics, so I took the sword with me to further examine later. It turned out that the sword was a legendary weapon called Winterweiss, but I'll get to that later. I also took a moment to check the queen for anything interesting. Her boots were in near pristine condition since she took to levitation in order to get around, so I snagged those regardless if they'd fit me or not. I wasn't going to wear them but rather keep them as a trophy or maybe even sell them.

Once we had our fill of looting, we went back into the mountain to meet up with Isil and the Lyfeasari prisoners. The trek back was much easier since it was clear of enemies and the puzzles were already solved. When we finally made it all the way back to the tomb, we met up with Isil and took a long rest before heading back to Lyfeasari. We were all beat and tired, so we took a moment to get some sleep to recover our strength. Before I headed to bed, I had a ration to eat and did some quick firearm maintenance.

After everyone was ready, we continued back through the mountain towards the beginning of the giant’s stronghold. It seemed like forever since we first started our mission but finally I could breathe a sigh of relief since it was over. Once the party and I escorted the prisoners all the way back to the large hole beneath the mountain, we prepared to make our way back down to the town below. Fortunately for me, I didn’t need to worry about how we were going to get all the prisoners down safely. That was everyone else’s problem. All I had to worry about was how I was going to get myself down. Simple enough, I thought.

Remembering the parachute I was given at the start of the quest, I took off my backpack to retrieve it. I unstrapped it to make sure it wasn’t damaged. As I looked it over, there didn’t appear to be any scratches or punctures that seemed to be significant enough to cause any worry over. But who was I kidding; I had never seen nor used one before in my life. So I was basically leaving it up to chance that it would work as intended and not leave me as a puddle of blood and guts on the ground below. But that was in the back of my mind at that point. I was just anxious to get off the mountain and into safe territory to rest and recuperate.

I put the parachute on my back then put my backpack on backwards so it was on my front. Then I slung my loot bag over my shoulder and across my chest and my rifle on the other shoulder. It felt awkward with the way I had all my gear on, but it made the most sense to me in my head based on how they explained how the parachute worked. I shuffled to the edge of one of the holes and looked over the edge. Heights usually didn’t bother me, but from where I standing, I felt a little chill run down my spine. I waited for a couple of the others to go first and watched how things went. A little bit after they jumped and fell for a few moments, I saw their chutes open without a hitch. Seemed easy enough, I thought to myself. Once I was ready, I moved completely to the edge then walked right off.

I fell like a rock as the weight of all my gear in addition to myself hurled me down to the ground. The wind chill stung at the exposed skin on my face. I could barely keep my eyes open as I fell. Once I had my adrenaline rush, I pulled on the parachute’s pull chord and suddenly, I felt my body jerk violently as the chute deployed and slowed my descent. My heart nearly leapt out of my chest as I hung on to the chute’s ropes for dear life. I finally calmed down and realized I was all right and descending at a safe and slow enough speed. I exhaled deeply as I looked down, seeing the town growing bigger as I got closer.

Eventually, I touched down safely and regrouped with the others. Almost immediately after we made it down to the town, we were greeted by the Governor and other inhabitants of Lyfeasari. We reported in and told him all about the experience in the giant’s stronghold and Queen Shiva’s lair. The prisoners all thanked us and left to return to their families and homes. The Governor’s daughter was finally reunited with her father and they were both grateful to us for saving her. After the debrief was done, the Governor thanked us once more and gave us our reward. While I was there, I asked him if I could have one of the artificial foxes, or Filigree Foxes as they were called, that roamed around the town and he obliged. I was so happy to finally have one of those cute little foxes for myself.

After collecting my reward from the Governor, I decided to find a place to get some food and rest. At that point, everyone was doing their own thing, so I figured I’d take care of some personal errands in the morning before we moved out. I asked around and someone pointed me towards the local inn, the Blue Glacier Inn. It didn’t see much business on account of it being located in a reclusive town. What was the deal with all these inns in secretive town? First the one in Lake Town, then here? I clearly had no idea how running an inn worked.

My new pet walked alongside me and it was nice having him around. He reminded me of my old pet fox named Whispy so much. I just had to get used to the whole metallic fox aspect compared to the soft, furry one I was so used to.

When I finally got to the inn, I checked in and dropped all my bags off in the room. After that, I made my way back into the dining area with my new pet, which I decided to call Whispy 2.0 until I thought of something better. I was waited on by a cute Nymph and ordered some food to eat. I sighed again with relief, sitting there at the table by myself as I recounted everything that happened during our most recent adventure. After eating, I went back to my room to sleep for a few hours before heading out to do the rest of my errands.

When I woke up, it was still early morning, so I got ready and headed out. The first thing I decided to check off my list was head to the bank. I was really tired of lugging around all these coins and wanted to trade in some of them to lighten the load. I wanted to trade in all my excess coins, but that didn’t happen. I only managed to exchange 100 gold coins for a platinum one, so it was better than nothing.

After the bank, I wandered around and came across a pet store that specialized in the mechanical foxes everyone seemed to have. Seeing as how I was a proud, new owner of one, I decided to check it out. While there, I bought a manual outlining the basics regarding proper care of Filigree Foxes and other pieces of useful information. I also bought a cute red collar for him to have in order to give him a more personalized feel. On my way back to the inn, I restocked on rations from a general merchant for the trip back to the ship.

Once everyone had woken up and had something to eat, we made our way to the edge of the town. Since the blizzard had stopped, we had greater visibility and could see our surroundings better. After traveling a good distance away from the town, we saw the ship flying around in search of us. One of the magic users fired off a spell to get their attention and had the ship land nearby to pick us up.


	13. The Spoils of Victory

I was so glad to see the ship again as I lugged my gear over to it and hopped aboard. Once we were on the deck, we were swarmed by the crew asking us about what happened and also congratulating us on making it back okay. Among the crowd was my faithful maid, Kasumi, who was more than glad to see me back in one piece. I waved over to her and she helped me bring everything back to my room.

I remember feeling so relieved to be back on the ship and finally in the comfort of my own room. Kasumi was holding my loot bag, wondering where to put the thing while I just stood there in the center of the room. As I came back to my senses, I had Kasumi place the bag on the bed while I took off my backpack and set it down as well.

The feeling of all the weight finally being lifted from my sore, achy shoulders was very much well received. I unslung my rifle and found a place for it on my weapon wall next to the other rifle I had. I made sure it was unloaded before I set it up there, of course. I was quite pleased with how well the weapon handled; served me well as one of my only means of attacking at range, along with my pistol and limited magical ability at the time.

After taking care of my rifle, I stepped over to the bed to pull out the souvenirs for Kasumi. I had picked up a few things here and there to potentially give her, but I decided on just letting her choose between one of the nice wizard robes I looted from the lich’s personal chambers. I opened up the makeshift loot bag and pulled out the two robes, giving Kasumi the choice of either the white robe with gold trim or the revealing red one. Of course, I had my preference on which one I wanted her to choose (the red one) but I was fine with giving her either one; I was going to use it as pajamas in the cold weather anyway, so it didn’t matter which one I ended up with. Once I showed her the options, it didn’t take her long to pick the one she wanted. She chose the white one and mentioned something about how much it would fetch if she sold it. Of course, she said it under her breath, but I gave her a look as if to say it was a gift meant for her and not to be sold. She gave a weak smile then scampered off to her room.

I just shook my head and exhaled tiredly. I’ve been waiting forever to finally unpack and take inventory of all my loot. I reached into the burlap bag and began putting everything away. The first thing I took out was the white dragon scale I got from the dragons we killed after meeting Gwen, the Thunder Giant. It was much smaller than the red one I had. After looking it over, I placed it next to the other dragon scale on my shelf. All the gold, silver, copper, and platinum coins I had extra went straight into the treasure chest. I didn’t bother counting it all out; I just knew it was a lot. I also took the gemstones and placed them in the chest as well. The chest was getting pretty full and I think that was when I first considered getting a bank account at Dwarforge. After the coins, I found all three ceramic tiles from the Chimera mosaic that attacked us. That was a strange encounter. I placed the small, red, blue, and yellow tiles on the shelf of looted enemy trophies alongside the dragon scales.

Once the loot bag was empty, I folded it up and stuffed it under my bed. Next was my backpack. The parachute pack was still attached, so I took it off and placed it aside; I was going to repack it later so it fit better in the bag it came in. I reached into my backpack and first pulled out the flask of fine giant’s wine. I can’t believe I still had the thing, especially after I had offered it up to the toga-wearing guy outside Dedarius’ library. It had to be worth something, I thought, which is why I guess I picked it back up after the crew killed the guy. I took the flask and placed it on my dresser; never know when you might need a quick drink in the middle of the night.

Once everything was unpacked, I could finally focus on relaxing. I stepped back over to the weapon wall and mannequin and began to doff my armor and gear. I took off my hat and mask first, placing them on the mannequin’s head. It felt nice to finally breathe freely without the chill constantly trying to freeze my nose off. I rustled my hair before moving on to my breastplate and pauldrons. I had gotten used to them by then, so I had little to no trouble undoing all the straps and fasteners by myself. As I lifted the armor over my head, I could feel my joints and bones creak and sting from soreness. I hissed slightly from the discomfort as I placed the armor on the mannequin’s torso. Lastly, I undid my belt and slung it around the mannequin’s neck, complete with the sword, pistol, and pouches still attached; I’d take care of it all later I told myself.

After all the heavy stuff was taken care of, I stretched my arms up into the air with much delight. I quickly went about taking off all the thick winter clothes I had on which consisted of the heavy winter coat, shirt, and pants and just tossed them on my bed. All off in seconds as well as my boots. I took a moment to relax before getting changed into my old shirt and pants. There was still much to do. It seemed that while I was unpacking, Cane had lifted off and took the ship back into the air. Where we were headed, I wasn't sure, but I'd figure it out later when I went outside. Once I had some clothes on, I went over to Kasumi's room and introduced her to my new pet, Whispy 2.0. I told her how to maintain and care for him while I was gone, but I wasn't even sure about the specifics. That was why I bought the manual on caring for Filigree Foxes before leaving Lyfeasari. I gave it to Kasumi to read up on and possibly teach me what she learned. It was also a good opportunity for her to practice her reading.

After leaving Whispy with Kasumi for the time being, I went outside to see how everyone else was doing. It was still a bit cold, so I quickly went back and got my coat, hat, and mask. When I went back out, Cane was piloting the ship to the top of the mountain so we could begin gutting it of all the treasure we left behind. We all gathered the crew to include the former slaves and began organizing salvage operations. Moros, Lireal, and Idu were going to direct heavy-load operations using their magic to transport and teleport single, large items or large quantities of smaller items back to the ship. Freya, Isil, and Mountain were going to direct gathering operations to pick-clean room by room any items that were left behind. They gathered everything to a central point in the area and got it prepped to be moved by the other team. Lastly, Kasumi and I took care of exploring areas we hadn't previously been in yet. There were a few places here and there where we found treasure and luckily, the mountain was still cleared of hostiles. The entire process of clearing the mountain took around a couple days or so. Because of their help, I set aside a chunk meant for the group fund to pay each of the crew members generously for their efforts.

When it was time to finally leave, we were going to stop at the fishing village, Toft, before returning to Dwarforge. We had to return the magical frost-resistant artifacts first, which I almost forgot we had. When we got there, Lireal gathered them all up from everyone and returned them to the village elders. They were very thankful that we managed to solve the issue regarding the blizzard and return their artifacts back to them intact. Once that was all taken care of, we got back on the ship and started on our way to Dwarforge.

The trip back was going to take around a week, so the crew and I had plenty of time to relax and decompress after our adventure in the mountain. A curious thing that sprouted up during this trip was the creation of a fight club on the bottom deck. I'm not sure who started it or why, but I had my suspicions. It wasn't completely bad, though. It gave the crew a way to blow off steam and get some physical training in. It also gave our elf medics good opportunities to get some practice in healing minor injuries. During its initial inception, Freya and Mountain quickly became popular participants.

Every now and then, I'd peek down there to see if there was a match going on but I never participated. I didn't think I could manage to fight in all earnest and strike one of my comrades. Watching, though, I had no problem with. The rule was that no weapons, armor, or magic were allowed; only fists and martial strikes were to be used. Of course, common decency and restraint to a certain extent was adhered to by all participants. I even heard that Lireal started the whole gambling process to bet on who would win, but I didn't participate in that as well. Most of the time, I just spent the matches watching with Kasumi from the sidelines, telling her what each fighter was doing right or wrong or what they could do better.

When I wasn't doing my official unofficial duties or things like that, I was taking care of my own business. I spent some of the down time cleaning my firearms and swords, making sure they were in tip-top condition for when we had to fight again. I spent time mentoring and coaching Kasumi on various things like reading, writing, swordsmanship, and the like. There were times where I even did nothing and just laid around in my room playing with Whispy or slacking off.

Eventually, Dwarforge came into view far in the distance as we neared the end of our trip. During that length, the ship apparently hit something mid-flight according to one of the crew. It turned out to be a Cockatrice but the party quickly put it down before it could do any damage. The battle was over before I was even able to get outside from the cabin.

Once we got to Dwarforge, Moros gathered us all around and said he suddenly had a personal errand that he needed our help with. He told us that he had some family issues to deal with and that those who volunteered would be accompanying him to one of the circles of hell. Of course, we all said we'd help since we were longtime comrades and all and been through basically all sorts of hell already. After getting the details of the mission, we all went into town to take care of some personal business.

I had lots of things I had to do as the ship's official unofficial requisitions officer, so I started with those duties first. Now that we had a lot of funds to spend, I coordinated with the Dwarf engineers to make some upgrades to the ship. I drew up some plans and arranged for a bathroom to be installed on the living-quarters deck and the deck below that. After it was installed, the Dwarves explained to me how it all worked. Water was collected in a tank and heated via pipes connected to Lykos' coal room. A lever was pulled in the bathroom to get water to fill the tub. Once the bath was done, a plug was pulled which allowed the water to drain out of the tub after a person was finished bathing. The water went through a filter to remove solid debris then got cleaned via a magical pipe. It seemed so simple when they explained it to me but it was actually much more complex to get it all working.

Once the ship's upgrades were arranged, I had to go buy supplies for the crew. I took the funds from the mountain that was set aside for the group fund and bought a month's worth of food and 500,000 pounds of coal for Lykos. I also purchased some healing supplies for the infirmary, some ammunition for the armory, and few other utility items that the ship could use. In total, I think I ended up spending around 75,845 gold coins on everything to include the ship upgrades and maintenance, supplies, and other communal items.

After the ship's needs were taken care of, I went to the bank to open up an account for myself. I had gotten so much money in the form of coins and gems that I felt it was unsafe to keep it all stashed onboard the ship. To remedy my dilemma, I figured I'd keep the bulk of my wealth safely deposited at the Dwarforge bank. It was much less likely that I'd lose everything at the bank rather than on board a flying ship piloted by an amateur and crewed by former slaves.

When I arrived at the bank, I went about opening an account. I got myself a modest deposit box and took care of all the paperwork that came with owning one. I received a unique key that went to the safety deposit box and in order to deposit and withdraw, I needed to have it on me. The bank also had a copy of the key to compare and validate mine and was also used as a backup in cases of extreme emergencies. The bank would keep track of withdraws and deposits for my account via a written ledger. It would have a record of the amount or item withdrawn or deposited, the date of the transaction, and the employee that handled the transaction. After all the formalities were taken care of, I deposited my stash. For my initial transaction, I deposited a platinum bar worth one thousand gold coins, seven hundred gold coins, a large emerald, and a large ruby. Of course, I had much more from the mountain loot, but I'd have to deposit it later in increments.

From what I had recorded in my notes, I had received a total of around 283 platinum coins, 69,809 gold coins, and 25,785 silver coins. In addition to coins, I also received 41 gemstones that were worth around ten gold coins each, 17 gemstones that were worth around 100 gold coins each, 18 gemstones worth around 500 gold coins each, eight gemstones worth around 1,000 gold coins each, two gemstones (one of them an opal) worth around 2,500 gold coins each, and a grand gemstone worth around 5,000 gold coins. Finally, there was a silver box that was appraised at around 3,000 gold coins and a gold necklace with citrine gemstones worth around 10,000 gold coins. That was after all the loot was evenly split amongst the crew and the ship's needs.

After taking care of my business at the bank, I happened to pass by a courier service. I didn't know how I missed it the last several times I was in Dwarforge, but I actually had some use of a courier service. I used to write letters to my friend, Kia, back home on Broken Crescent Island. I used to write to her about how I was doing, where I was, and anything interesting I encountered. Most of the time, I'd send her a souvenir from my adventures when I wrote to her and a bunch of stuff I found or bought that I didn't want to carry around with me. The stuff that weren't for her explicitly, she'd keep safe in my house somewhere. Sometimes, items I sent home included things for her to study so she'd study them as part of her independent studies for the OSF. Since being arrested and forced to fight in the arena, I hadn't sent her any letters so I decided it was time to give her an update.

I got some stationary and a box to put stuff in and went back to the ship. I wrote her a lengthy letter detailing where I'd been all that time as well as descriptions of the items I was going to send back. Along with the letter, I sent back the three colored mosaic Chimera tiles, the vial of whale oil, a dragon horn from the red dragon, the vial of battery fluid, the Illithid quill, one rifle round, and the three stone coins. I wrote that the quill was hers to keep and I was sure she could make better use of it than I could. After I finished writing the letter, I placed everything in the box and sealed it up. I went back to the courier service and had them deliver it to my house back home.

For the next few hours, I went about moving my large stash of treasure from the ship to the bank. It took several trips, but I managed to get the substantial sum safely deposited into my account. I was beat but at least I could rest easy knowing it was all safe. After that, I went about spending some of my newly acquired and well-deserved wealth around the shopping district.

I hit the general store first and got some basic necessities, and by basic, I mean I splurged a little. I got myself a Healer's Kit for emergencies, a spyglass, and some personalized, high-quality towels and washcloths with my initials stitched into them in gold. I was going to be the first to try the new bathrooms, so I needed to be prepared with the finest linens.

After that, I had to visit some of the more specialized stores to find what I was looking for. I got myself a high-grade sword cleaning and maintenance kit as well as one specifically meant for firearms. I also got a high-quality custom gray fireproof lootbag. The one I fashioned in the mountain was nice and all, but now I needed one that was functional and going to last. I also got a black fireproof backpack from the same store. Since we were going into hell, I figured fireproof gear was going to be a must. I looked around and got black fireproof gloves, black fireproof boots, and four glass vials of holy water to add to my hell-diving loadout. Once I had finished my shopping, I brought everything back to the ship to prepare for the upcoming mission.

When I got back, I dropped my gear off at my room and took inventory to make sure I had everything I needed. Lireal had commissioned some fireproof clothing for us to wear, so I got mine and made sure it fit. It was a black full-body suit and was meant to protect us from the constant flames in hell. We would still feel the heat, but at least it wouldn't damage our bodies if it touched where the suit covered our skin. Thank goodness we used the group funds for the purchase since it was quite expensive to create each suit. Once I made sure my weapons and gear were ready to go, I thought I'd go and test out the new bathroom.

I just wanted to take a bath so badly and that was all I could think about. Once I was down to my undergarments, I grabbed one of my new towels and headed to the new bathroom with it wrapped around my body. Even though I had the towel, I didn’t trust my surroundings well enough to be going down the hall wearing nothing but a towel which is why I still had my underwear on. Not that I had any problem with the crew seeing me nude or anything. I just don’t like the idea of what some of them might do with that memory.

I made sure the bathroom was vacant with a quick knock before opening the door. It was a simple room with a wooden tub at one side and a bench for changing and dressing on the other. I went in and flipped the sign from “Vacant” to “Occupied” on the door. I looked to the tub and plugged the drain before pulling on the water lever. As soon as I pulled it, a torrent of fresh, hot water came forth from the sprout and started to collect in the tub. I waited eagerly as I watched the water rise inside. While it filled, I hung my towel on a hook and stripped naked. I stretched my arms and legs as I waited for the proper water level within the tub. Once it was filled just right, I switched off the lever and tested the water’s temperature. Perfect.

I braced myself and slowly guided my body into the tub, starting with a leg followed by the other. As I stood in the tub with the water up to my thighs, I nearly buckled from the water’s warmth enveloping my lower extremities. Unable to contain myself, I fully submerged myself and sat fully in the tub, reclining back and resting my head on the edge of the tub. I felt so at peace then that I didn’t want to leave. My poor, achy body really needed a break. The bath was a very relaxing one and everything worked out perfectly as it should. My compliments definitely went out to those engineers who made it possible. After my bath, I dried myself off with my towel then went back to my room to get dressed and geared up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the letter Koko sent to Kia:
> 
> To: Kia ‘ruu of the Order of the Sacred Fire  
> Port City, Broken Crescent Island  
> From: Koko Stormare  
> Post Office, Dwarforge
> 
> Kia,  
> How’s it going? Been awhile hasn’t it? Just writing to let you know I’m fine and not dead. As if there was any doubt. But anyway, a lot has happened since I last wrote and I don’t want to get into the details right now; we can talk more about it later. Just wanted to let you know I’m still alive and such. Hope you’ve been keeping good care of the house in my stead. I’ll continue to send you stuff from my adventures to study and take care of. And of course, you’ll get a souvenir or two for you to keep for yourself.  
>   
> The items enclosed are items taken from defeated foes or looted from various places. First off, I sent an Illithid quill for you to keep. I took it from some weird Illithid lair and figured you can make better use of it than I can. The rest of the items are mine but for you to study. The three mosaic tiles are from a mosaic of a Chimera that came to life and attacked us. The long, brass tube is some sort of ammunition for a gun. Not sure if you’ve seen one, but in this place called Dwarforge there are weapons that shoot little, tiny metal balls. It’s hard to explain but this tube is like a super advanced version of the ammo it uses. The dragon horn is from the first dragon we killed. Nothing too special about it from what I can tell. The stone coins are from a Drow ruin underneath Dwarforge. Don’t know their exact value but they were at one point used as currency, I think. The vial of whale oil is just that. Whale oil. Lastly, there is a vial of battery fluid taken from an ancient ruin. It is used to power these ancient constructs and it is quite amazing.  
>   
> Try not to use up all the liquids in your studies, especially the battery fluid. It’s quite difficult to come by. More to come.  
> -Koko


	14. Hellraisers

Once all of us had everything we needed from Dwarforge, we headed out to pick up Freya. She had left the day before to visit her family in Dawsburry and check up on the town. During the trip there, I told Kasumi where the others and I would be going and that she'd have some homework to do while I was gone. I gave her some academic assignments to complete as well as some physical training exercises. She was less than enthused about it initially, but she gave in and said she'd take her training seriously. Once I was finished my business with my apprentice, I played with Whispy and relaxed until Freya was back with the group. After a brief flight, the ship arrived at Dawsburry and landed in the outskirts of town.

When Freya finally returned to the ship, we prepared for the trip into hell and looked to Moros to get us there. Once we were all together, he led us to a clearing away from the ship and the town of Dawsburry nearby. He created a strange portal and had us all walk in. The process of how we got into hell was a bit fuzzy and I can't remember all the details, but in short- Moros killed us. He planned to teleport us to the correct layer of hell, but he was a bit off in his calculations and we ended up teleporting directly into a sphere of annihilation or something. Honestly, I blocked out most of the trip and initial arrival in hell from my memory because, as you can imagine, it was pretty traumatizing.

At first, we didn't know what happened as we ended up in a white realm and greeted by a couple of Devas. They were wearing white togas and didn't seem hostile towards us. We all looked and felt like ourselves and still had our gear and clothes in our possession. The astral beings then explained what had happened and that if we wanted to be revived and returned to the realm of the living, we had to do something for them in return. There was a stolen item that a certain devil had taken and the Devas wanted it back. Since we had no other option, we took the job. It was either that or stay in their realm for eternity, left to wander aimlessly as a dead soul. After a bit more discussion, we were knocked out and transported to hell where we were supposed to go in the first place.

When I finally awoke again, I found myself in a hot, barren wasteland, but at least I was surrounded by familiar faces. I got a hold of my senses and stood up, making sure all my gear was still with me. Not before long after arriving in hell, we were attack by a large group of disgusting things called Lemures. I barely had enough time to check myself over before I had to draw my sword and start fighting. During the battle, I managed to kill two of them while the others had the rest under control. After the Lemures were dealt with, a Chimera swopped in and tackled me out of nowhere. I was too caught off guard to defend myself but fortunately the others had my back and killed the creature before it could maul me to death.

Before we left the Devas’ realm, they told us that there would be someone waiting for us here that would be our guide. They didn't give us specifics, but the individual would help us on our quest. Once the fighting was over, we regrouped and looked for that mysterious ally. Looking around, we came across a hooded individual who wasn't immediately hostile towards us, which was a good sign. We talked with him and he introduced himself as Herfik, our guide. After talking with him, he gave us a magical chain that would bring us back to the realm of the Devas were so long as we were all holding on to it. He also gave us a bag of gemstones each worth around 1,000 gold coins. It acted as our reward and currency while in hell. We could just keep it all and not spend any of it, but he said there was going to be times where we would have to spend some of those gems to advance through hell. Lireal took the gems and chain from him to safeguard for us.

After Herfik introduced himself to us and explained a few more things, we followed him through the hellish landscape towards the nearest establishment. On the way there, we encountered a patrol of devils, but thanks to one of Idu's spells, we managed to avoid detection as the patrol passed us by. Once we were clear, we continued on. We traveled for a few hours until a town came into view in the distance.

As we approached, we noticed a guard standing at the front entrance to the settlement. Just in case, Moros cast a spell to disguise us as beings that would normally be found in that part of hell. Looking as we were, we would have garnered too much unwanted attention, but as devils or demons, we’d fit right in with the local populace. I was disguised as a Succubus which was okay compared to the devils that Lireal, Mountain, and Freya were disguised as. Freya was disguised as an Imp but couldn't fly, so it looked odd as she waddled around in her disguised form. Lireal looked like a Chain Devil while the Mountain was disguised an Ice Devil. Moros just remained as himself while Idu disguised himself as a Tiefling as well. Rollo was disguised as a Hellhound and Herfik just... remained unchanged, I guess.

When we got to the gate guard, Moros took the lead and intimidated him into letting us through. His act worked and we were let through without a confrontation. Disgusted by the guard's impudence, I spat at his feet as I passed through the gate. He was a real dick if I remember correctly. The town we had entered was called Darkspine. It was a prime place to stock up on supplies and gather information before embarking on the next long length of our journey. While Moros, Idu, and the Mountain singled out a guy to interrogate, I followed Freya and Lireal to one of the bars that also acted as the local casino.

I figured we'd have a better chance of luring someone away while they were intoxicated at the bar, but upon entering, I realized Lireal and Freya were more interested in drinking and gambling than finding information. I sighed and let them do their thing while I kept my eyes open for a potential target to interrogate. There were devils and demons alike partaking in alcoholic beverages of an unknown nature as well as gambling on various games. Most of them were speaking Infernal, which I didn't know, but since I was a demon, my knowledge of Abyssal came in handy. I wasn't completely fluent and I'm sure I had an accent, but I knew enough to carry out basic conversation and the like.

While I was sitting at the Roulette table, I was rudely approached by a Bearded Devil who slapped me on the rear end. I was too caught off guard that I almost forgot I was in a disguise and almost blew my cover. Once I remembered what I looked like, I played along to the best of my limited acting ability and tried to get him secluded from the rest of the venue. Eventually, this led to that and I convinced him to get one of the rooms available to patrons that were situated above the bar and casino. I almost gagged as I tried to keep up the charade and followed him back to the room. I wanted to let Freya and Lireal know what I was up to, but they seemed to be the center of attention as usual so I couldn't get in touch with them.

Once we were alone in the room, I tried to pry any information I could out of him. I locked the door and directed him over to the bed to get him in a false sense of security. Unfortunately, my methods had no effect. I nearly lost my cover several times as I tried my best to get any bit of info out of him. Eventually, he grew bored and my cover was blown, forcing me to fight him directly. As I struggled to take care of him on my own, Moros and the others fortunately heard the commotion and came to my aid. The door was still locked so they had to bust it down to get to me. There was a tense stand-off as we tried to talk things over but it eventually ended with me killing the devil for good. After I killed him, he turned into a pile of dust and ash. I was so embarrassed at how things turned out but fortunately, none of the others were there to witness it before the fight. After my failed attempt at being clandestine, I rejoined the others and went back outside, promising myself that was the last time I’d ever attempt anything so farfetched.

Once we had left the bar, fortunately without any of its patrons hearing the fight upstairs, Moros and the others filled us in on what they managed to get. It seemed they had better luck than I did in finding out information from their target. They found out about a powerful devil named Silicon, or something like that, and he was a major player in that layer of hell. He was the one responsible for taking the item the Devas sent us in to retrieve and had escaped to another layer of hell.

After the kerfuffle in the casino, we went to the general merchant to buy some supplies. Herfik said the full journey to get to Silicon’s layer of hell could take more than three weeks, so he said we had to prepare for that. He also mentioned that we could forage and find other merchants along the way, but it was best not to rely on that potential possibility. The merchant we visited didn't have much, but we were able to obtain three weeks of rations for three people, so we had to ration the rations amongst the entire group. We had to pay the merchant using some of the gems Herfik gave us, so that was that.

Along with the rations, Herfik mentioned we could also use a Pass of Safe Conduct while we traversed the layers of hell. Even with our disguises, if we were stopped by any of the local devils, the pass could save us from a lot of trouble. Of course, an official one would be almost impossible to find, so he mentioned that we get a counterfeit one. The counterfeit pass usually worked so long as it wasn't closely inspected by a knowledgeable devil or whatnot. So after getting rations, we looked for someone who could forge a pass for us. Herfik knew of a place and when we got there, we bought a pass using more of the gems he gave us when we first met.

Once we had the rations and the pass, we followed Herfik further into the layer of hell we were on. Along the way, we encountered swarms of Cranium Rats which turned hostile towards us as they passed, but we cut them down no problem. Shortly after dealing with the rats, we came across a familiar face, at least, to one of our members. Unbeknownst to Moros, his sister was in hell on a mission as well. Her name was Nalya and she was his older sister. She said she was in hell because her companion had died and she was looking to free his soul. It was only mere happenstance that Moros and she met like that. Since she was headed the way we were, she tagged along with us and caught up with Moros about how things were going.

Herfik continued to lead us away from Darkspine and towards the gate to the next layer of hell. He said that it'd take traveling through 15 zones to get there which was quite the trek. Each zone varied and he didn't know exactly what we'd face along the way. As we traveled, we came across a scouting party consisting of a Chain Devil and a pack of Hellhounds. To avoid detection and possible reinforcements being called in, we snuck around the group and continued on undetected. Shortly after seeing the scouting party, we came across a large battlefield filled with dead demons and devils. It seemed we had just missed a giant battle with skirmishes still happening far off in the distance. I wanted to loot the area so bad, but we decided to play it safe and keep moving before we ran into another scouting party.

After traveling for a significant amount of time, we decided to call it quits and set up camp. Since there was no sun and the sky rarely changed except for the occasional meteor coming down, we just stopped when we were all too tired to continue on. Idu cast a spell that produced a safe place for us all to sleep in and took all of the watch shifts himself. What a relief, I thought to myself, as I was dead tired and traumatized slightly from the encounter in the casino. I needed all the sleep I could get.

Once everyone had gotten some sleep and woken back up, we continued on the path towards the next layer of hell. Along the way, we encountered a small band of dead souls asking for our help. I'm not sure what we were supposed to do to help them, so we just ignored them and continued on. They were probably far from innocent anyway if they landed themselves in hell after dying. Served them right, I thought. Later on, we found large craters in the ground filled with maggots and other unspeakable horrors. The craters were around fifty feet in diameter and were apparently where Lemures were created. We didn't linger long as we avoided the craters and continued on.

As we were hiking, we spotted a large group of devils in the distance headed our way. Moros cast his disguise spell on all of us before the devils got too close. This time, instead of a Succubus, I was disguised as an Erinyes to better fit in amongst the other devil disguises in the party. When the devil group finally came upon us, we tried to act as normal as possible. The devil group was composed of two Bone Devils, six Bearded Devils, and six Chain Devils, a force too large for us to fight head-on. The leaders of the group said they were looking for five deserters. Moros and the others took the lead and managed to talk our way out of the confrontation; I just watched as I didn't understand or speak Infernal. Once we had persuaded the devils that we couldn't help, we hurried along and continued on our way before they caught wind of our disguises.

For the rest of the day, nothing of note happened. We continued walking along, subjected to the blistering heat and harsh environment of hell itself. After we got too tired to move, we set up camp just like last time. We had a quick bite to eat then tried to get some sleep the best we could.

The next day, we continued at a fast pace to cover as much ground as we could. The first obstacle that we encountered that day was a large river of blood, roughly one hundred yards wide. At first, Idu tried to cast a spell to fly, but something had negated it. With that not working, we tried other methods to get across. Idu tried a combination of a few more spells and managed to get Mountain, Freya, and Rollo across safe and sound. Then he and Moros cast spells to get themselves across the bloody river. Lireal got herself and Nalya across using a teleportation spell leaving me and Herfik to traverse it the old-fashioned way. There were solid clumps of whatever floating in the river, so I just used them to hop across. Herfik followed and almost made it flawlessly across until he slipped and fell in at the end. Luckily, the river wasn't dangerous and only left him drenched in blood and other disgusting fluids. We didn't have much time to relax after getting across as a swarm of winged creatures flew across the river and attacked us. They weren't a challenge and the others shot them down with ease.

Once the river of blood had been crossed, we continued marching on at a relatively quick pace. It didn't take long before the party began to tire and voted to take a break. Idu set up his magical safehouse and we all took a long rest to sleep. Once we were awake and more or less well-rested, we continued onward. Surprisingly, we encountered some vegetation along our path but like everything else in hell, it wasn't too friendly. Herfik and Nalya ended up getting scratched and scraped by the thorny flora but managed to get away before being grappled.

Shortly after that, we encountered a group of Kobolds hiding in a nearby bush. There were around forty of them and they seemed lost and almost frightened when we approached them. They muttered amongst themselves and pushed one of them forward to act as their representative. Seeing as they weren't immediately hostile, we took a moment to talk with them and perhaps provide assistance. I for one didn't care about them and wanted to continue on with our mission, but the others saw potential in the Kobolds so we chatted it up with them. After talking with them, we learned that they were looking for their god's (Tiamat’s) lair and wanted to meet her. Unfortunately, they were lost and sustained many casualties along the way. Moros gave them some of our gems as a peace offering and asked if they had any supplies to spare, which they didn't. Eventually, he persuaded the lot of them to follow us and would disguise them all as Imps. He said that we were headed in the direction of their god's home, so we could show them the way. The Kobolds happily agreed and so we then had a small army of Kobolds at our backs. I just rolled my eyes and got back in formation with the others as we continued on. Even though we were disguised, our group more than tripled in size which I'm not sure was a good or bad thing when traveling in hell.

After we covered more ground, we began to tire again and set up camp. Idu had to use a different spell to provide shelter for us. Only the main group got to reside in the shelter while the Kobolds and Herfik slept outside. It seemed that the constant heat and discomfort were lowering our overall endurance so we had to keep resting after shorter and shorter distances. Even though we weren't in too much of a rush, I kinda wanted to get out of hell as soon as we could. Being constantly hot and dirty was beginning to get real old real fast.

After resting, we continued on with the horde of Kobolds still following behind us. Herfik told us we were only in the seventh zone which meant we were roughly halfway to the next layer. We trudged on and came across a large fissure in the ground that impeded our progress. It was like seventeen feet wide so we had to come up with a more creative way of getting across than just jumping. Luckily, Freya had her magical ebony fly that managed to ferry everyone across no problem. It just took several trips to finally get us from one side to the other. It was quite disturbing. I normally didn’t have a problem with bugs, but that thing was giant. Hanging on to its… hair-like things and the loud buzzing filling your ears. Made me cringe.

After that was dealt with, we continued following Herfik like usual. The Kobolds disguised as Imps marched behind us in four elements, ten members deep. They seemed to be in high spirits despite being in hell and completely lost. Freya and Rollo continued to ride on her fly while the others, myself included, had to continue torturing our poor feet walking on the ground. As we traveled the wastes of hell, we encountered a large group of feral soul shells. We observed them for a bit before circling around and continuing on without alerting them.

The day, or what seemed like a day, ended without any other encounters so we set up camp to get some much needed sleep and rest. The longer I spent in hell, the more tired and frustrated I felt every time I woke up. After that night's sleep, I felt especially irritated as we continued marching on through the hot and oppressing atmosphere. I wasn't the only one to feel the fatigue as Rollo collapsed from exhaustion while we were traveling. Idu used a spell to get him back up and restored some of his vigor. Poor wolf. Even if he had fireproof clothing on like we did, I couldn't imagine how he was feeling with all that fur on underneath as well.

As we continued on, we came across a group of hairless hyenas, or what looked like them. They were digging through a pile of bones and didn't mind us any attention. We managed to scare them off without a fight before continuing on our journey. The temperature felt like it was rising, so we stopped early to take a break. Once we were rested, it was right back to it again.

The environment around us changed slightly as we found ourselves in a steamy, sauna-like area. It smelled horrible, like sulfur, and it was all around us. Even with my mask on, it reeked and I couldn’t escape its foul stench. As we made our way through the fog, or mist, or whatever it was, we saw a Chain Devil down below torturing a captured soul. The good nature of the party came out again and they moved to save the soul from the devil’s torture. Freya shot two arrows and quickly took out the Chain Devil before he even knew what hit him. The others freed the soul but he turned out to be a weird, useless individual. Looking back, he could've been the worst kind of person when he was alive, but the others didn't care much about that. So after saving him, he got the distinguished job of entertaining the Kobolds. Good for him. Maybe he could be useful for once in his afterlife. We also gave the Chain Devil's glaive to the Kobolds to keep them preoccupied as well. Nothing else happened after that so when we got tired, we took a break and stopped to set up camp.

The next day, we continued on and arrived at the River Styx. The river was wide and vast and the only way to get across was to use the services of a ferry. Herfik told us about the ferry master and the dangers of being on the river or touching its waters. The river itself was very dangerous and just looking into its depths long enough drove a person to lose themselves. The waters of the river induced complete amnesia, but if one fell in then got swiftly rescued, it was possible that some memories could remain intact. I didn't feel like testing that theory, though, so I stayed well clear of it.

Herfik led us to the river crossing where we waited for the ferry to arrive. He said the ferry master's name was Charon and he needed payment in order to cross. When Charon finally arrived, we approached him and asked what kind of payment was needed to use the ferry. Charon said he took any form of currency and told us that the price for the main bulk of us (Myself, Freya, Rollo, Mountain, Lireal, Moros, Nalya, and Herfik) would be 44,000 gold coins. Luckily, we did have the bag of expensive gems so we used 44 of them to pay for our passage. As for the Kobold army, it would cost 11,000 gold coins since they were smaller. They'd have to ride on a second trip so we paid for their travel as well using 11 gems. After paying for the ferry fare, we were left with 140 gemstones in the bag Herfik gave us.

Once we handed over the gems as payment, we all got on the ferry to get across the River Styx. On the shore, the Kobolds waved goodbye as they waited for their turn to cross the river. The ride across was rather smooth, or it would have been were it not for Freya and Lireal looking into the water. Lireal was the first to lose her gaze in the water's depths, but fortunately Mountain got to her before she could jump in. Freya also happened to look into the water, but Moros and I got a hold of her and pulled her away from the edge of the ferry. When we got to the other side, Freya and Lireal shook off whatever had been compelling their minds to jump into the water while we waited for the Kobolds to cross over.

It felt like it took much longer for them to cross the river than we did, but eventually, we saw the ferry in the distance come out of the fog. When the ferry docked and let everyone off, only 18 of the Kobolds showed up. They told us of the horrors they witnessed during the ferry ride. Unfortunately, they weren't aware of the river's dangerous properties and a lot of the Kobolds looked into the water and jumped overboard. They only managed to save one of the Kobolds that had jumped overboard but his memories were completely erased.

Continuing on, we followed Herfik on his way through hell with the Kobolds crying over the loss of their companions. What a sad waste, I thought as I looked at the much smaller group of Kobolds trailing behind us. We continued traveling until we got tired again, so we looked around for a suitable spot and set up camp. Once everything was set up, we tried to sleep off the fatigue and soreness before moving on. Since the ferry ride, the Kobolds weren't in such high spirits as they usually were.

After getting up the next day, we didn't come across anything on our travels other than large lakes of fire. It was a rather monotonous hike as it was nothing but the same old landscape as I looked around. Time was completely lose to me and it felt like we’d been down in hell forever. As time went on, we grew tired once more and were unable to continue. We took another rest before continuing on again on the same path.

As we walked, we passed by a very disturbing tower made of bones and heads. The heads were all of humanoid races from what we could tell and they were all talking non-coherently. A majority of them were crying out for help and the many voices of despair and pain hurt my head. It made me start having horrible flashbacks of the Gibbering Mouthers and when they ate me in the arena. I tried my best to keep it together as we moved along. We hurried passed the tower and found a suitable place to set up camp and rest. Afterwards, we continued on as usual.

Along the way, we were confronted by four Chimera, but Idu and Lireal weren’t having any of it and banished them all with their spells. It was quite the surprise and once the threat was gone, we continued on as if nothing had happened. Another strange thing occurred during our travels when Mountain came across a bleached, human skull lying on the ground. When we got closer to it, it started talking to us, asking to be thrown into the River Styx. Unfortunately, the river was a long way away in the opposite direction we were heading. Not wanting to leave it without helping out, Mountain took the skull and threw it as hard as he could back in the direction of the river. It definitely didn’t get all the way back to the river, but at least it was a bit closer than before.

We continued walking and later in the day, we spotted another group in the distance being led by devils. The group was composed of an Erinyes and four Barbed Devils. They seemed to be transporting a group of souls and Nalya believed her friend could be among them. We quickly came up with a plan and approached the group. Freya, Moros, Rollo, Lireal, Nalya, and Mountain went invisible and checked the prisoners for the soul in question. Idu and I acted as the distraction as we confronted the Erinyes and the other devils directly. While we were talking with the Erinyes, the others found Nalya’s friend and discreetly notified Idu. After receiving the information, Idu tried to cast a spell but it failed. Thinking fast, he attempted to strike a deal with the Erinyes in order to buy the soul husk instead and avoid a fight. The negotiations were tough, but he managed to buy the soul for the price of five of our gems. Once we had the soul in our possession, we retreated back to Herfik and the Kobolds were hiding behind cover.

Once we were clear of the Erinyes’ group, the others released their invisibility and we all met back up. Nalya met back with her friend and had a happy reunion. As soon as that was immediately over with, Idu banished Nalya’s friend back to the material world. At first, I was confused by when they said banished, but what really happened was that Nalya’s friend was returned to the realm of the living. So, in summary, we succeeded in saving her friend.

After completing her mission, Nalya decided to stick with us to try and help with Moros’ mission, since they were siblings and all. We continued traveling with Herfik at the lead then took a break once we were tired from walking. After the nap, we continued on as Herfik said we were getting close to the gate leading to the next layer of hell.

Continuing on, we eventually encountered a few large pits full of Lemures and other creatures. Across from them was what seemed like an entrance to a dark cave. We were about to cross until we were attacked by a very strong Imp, one that seemed to be in charge of the surrounding creatures. In order to get to the cave entrance that Herfik said led to the next layer, we had to defeat the Imp first. The battle was hard fought, but we managed to down the Imp and clear a path to the cave. Even with that out of the way, we still had to figure out a way to get across the large pits ahead of us.

Lireal used her magic and polymorphed Mountain into a giant eagle. He then carried her across the pits to the other side by the cave’s entrance. Freya used her ebony fly and flew across on that along with Idu. While we were trying to ferry everyone across the pit, one of the Kobolds -the one with amnesia and apparently named Mark- tried to cross by swimming through the pit, but he got stuck and almost died. Another Kobold and I tried to pull him out but failed. Moros then came to his aid and got him out alive. Once he was safe, Freya sent her fly back to continue ferrying everyone else to the cave’s entrance.

When we were all across, we approached the entrance to the cave. There was a large, iron door with dark magic embedded in it. Herfik told us that the way forward would lead us to the next layer of hell, but he could not follow. His job was to lead us to the gate and that was it. Nothing more and nothing less. After bidding him farewell, we all went through the gate. On the other side, there was just darkness and a single path that led far into the horizon. Herfik reassured that it was all right, so we all went in before the gate shut behind us.

Once the door was closed, we took a moment to collect ourselves. Idu healed the wounds Mark suffered when he stupidly tried to cross the pit earlier by himself. After taking a brief break, we soldiered on into the unknown. I didn’t know how long we walked but it seemed like we spent a few days traveling through the dark corridor. Our surroundings didn’t change and it was very ominous as the only sounds we heard came from us walking on the singular path.


	15. A Deal with the Devil

Everything after getting out of the tunnel was a complete blur to me, at least, until we got back on the ship and almost back to Dwarforge. I had to ask the others to get clarification about what exactly happened, so here was what I managed to gather.

As we continued on through the tunnel, the Kobolds began to get restless and asked where Tiamat’s lair was. The party said that they had actually passed it a while back. Whether that was true or not, I wasn't sure, but the news disheartened the remaining Kobolds so they left to find it on their own. Only one of the Kobolds, Mark, decided to stay with us since his memories were erased and he had no idea who the Kobolds' god was.

After getting to the end of the tunnel, we finally arrived in the next layer of hell where Silicon and the item he stole was supposedly located. The layer of hell we were in was called Dis apparently and we had to pay a toll to get through. Lireal used some of the gems we had so getting passed the guards wasn't a problem. After successfully entering Dis, the party looked around for a place to start their investigation.

We went to a bar and the others caused a ruckus like they usually did, except the ruckus turned into an all-out bar fight. I think someone said that Idu insulted Dispater, the ruling devil of the area, and that started it off. The group and I managed to get away from the bar before they got too involved in it.

We then went in a random direction away from the bar and found ourselves in front of a large tower. It was called the Obsidian Tower and it was where Dispater resided. For some reason, the party thought the tower was the next best place to go, so we went inside and spoke to the receptionist. From there, we took the lift to the very top to meet the devil in charge of everything. The lift actually resembled the one we traveled in the ruins below Dwarforge, but it was much more evil looking than that one, which I guess should be expected since we were in hell.

When we got to the top, we found Dispater there waiting for us. He had the item the Devas were looking for, an orb but one different than the ones we were looking for. He apparently had killed Silicon for it and that was how he came into possession of it. Silicon's lifeless corpse was lying on the ground in front of him.

While we were there, Dispater told us that after we had died, a Pit Fiend had come across what remained of our bodies and took the three Orbs. He had been tracking the Pit Fiend since he returned back to hell with the Orbs in his possession. Since Dispater had everything we needed, and there was no way we could defeat him, we had to resort to other measures of a diplomatic kind.

With no other choice, we struck a deal with Dispater in order to obtain the item the Devas wanted. It took a while to get a somewhat favorable outcome, and even then, there were some who were still disapproving of the deal. The deal had three main provisions. The first was that everyone that we killed in the material realm would be sent to Dispater's domain in hell. Once in hell, they were to be part of his army. Second, if any of us had a third child, it would immediately be given to Dispater. Lastly, at any point in our lives, Dispater could see through our eyes but could not do anything else. He relented and said that we would at least at least be aware of when he was doing that.

After the deal was made, he teleported us down to where the Pit Fiend was. We managed to apprehend the Pit Fiend and got teleported to an arena of sorts where we had to fight it. It turned out that the Pit Fiend was Moros' and Nalya's father and they were dead set on killing him. Lucky for us, we also had motivation to fight him as he had the Orbs. We ended up killing their father and retrieved the Orbs once again. We also obtained the item the Devas were looking for which checked off all of our objectives.

Once everything was secured, we used the chain to get back to the realm of the Devas to finish our part of their deal. Once we returned the item to them, they honored their promise and returned us all back to the realm of the living.

When we got back, we found ourselves in a crater back in the clearing where we first entered Moros' portal to hell. It took us a moment to adjust and get our bearings, but we started to move and look around as we finally realized we were safely in our own plane of existence. At first, we didn't know exactly how long we had been gone but we eventually found out. The others figured a few weeks at most, but it turned out that time worked differently in hell and it had actually been seven months since we first embarked on Moros’ mission.

Shortly after we got back to the ship, Idu said he had enough of traveling with us. Making a deal with Dispater was the last straw for him so as soon as we got back to Dwarforge, he said he was going to take his leave. He mentioned he was going to try and find any possible survivors from his time period or friends that may have continued living on passed their normal lifespan. He spent the remainder of his time with us packing what little possessions he had in his room and prepared to depart once we got to the city.

When I saw Kasumi, she was wearing her maid uniform but it was augmented with pieces of armor. She was also wearing items that I didn't recall giving her. She welcomed me back and filled me in on what everyone had been up to since we were gone. She told me that the crew waited around for as long as they could, but eventually, they grew bored and supplies began to dwindle. Cane made the judgement call to leave and take on odd jobs in the meantime until we all got back, if we ever did, they thought. She then told me about the latest mission they did which took them to the North Pole. It sounded oh so ridiculous, but looking back, the stuff that I told her we did must have sounded similarly as implausible.

In the end, she told me about how much money she was able to make on her own and said she didn't want to renew her contract. She said that it wasn't because she didn't like me anymore or thought I was a bad mentor. It was just time for her to move on, she said. She had learned a lot under my tutelage and because of that, she was able to get money on her own to support the slums back in Dwarforge. Her latest pull of 10,000 gold coins proved it. I was a little disappointed that I was losing an apprentice and friend, but I accepted her decision. I tried to pay her what was left on her contract, but she said it was okay. Compared to the amount she had gotten from the North Pole job, the amount I was going to give her was trivial. Besides, the training and experience she gained under me was enough payment as it was. As soon as we got back to Dwarforge, she said she'd pack her things and return to the slums. During the trip back, I talked with her more and helped collect her things.


	16. Another One Bites the Dust

When we got back to Dwarforge, we couldn't wait to get off the ship and back into proper, normal society. Being in hell for so long had seriously taken its toll on us and we needed a break. We all gathered on the top deck, and once the ship was docked, we left to go wander around the city.

The first thing I did was help carry Kasumi's things with her back to the slums. We chatted casually as we walked through the streets back to where we first met. When we got there, she was greeted by the people that knew her and welcomed her with open arms. We exchanged a few more words before saying our goodbyes. I was proud to see how much she had changed and for the better. She told me that she'd continue to help the people there and use her newfound skills and knowledge for good. Before I left, she told me to visit anytime we were back in Dwarforge. I gave her a wave and said I'd do my best.

After leaving the slums, I went to get some food. I was starving after having nothing but rations for the past few weeks, or months depending on how you looked at it. I took my time and ate at my own pace. We had little to no leads on where the next orb was and we were in no rush to leave the city. After eating, I went to the bank to deposit a few more things.

Everything in my account was still safe and sound which was a relief, though, the staff was a bit worried after not having seen me in such a long time. I deposited a fine silver necklace and 18 gemstones worth around 500 gold coins each. I didn't manage to get much in terms of souvenirs or loot from hell, so the deposit that time was rather small compared to the last. The people there were just happy to see me alive and well.

While we were in town, I also wrote another letter to Kia since it had been months since the last one. I gathered up some things from my room before disembarking and brought them to the courier service to send off. This time, I sent back the 11 intricate crossbow bolts from the Frost Giant Jarl's trophy room, Queen Shiva's boots, the paintbrush from the magical puzzle room in the mountain, the foreign romance novel from the ruins near Eryndlyn, and the magical sword (Winterweiss) I found at the top of the frozen mountain. The sword was still hibernating, so I still wasn't aware of its true power and abilities. For Kia herself, I included a nice emerald worth around 10 gold coins as a gift. After finishing the letter that explained everything, I put it all into a crate and paid for it to be delivered back home. They also informed me the last package I sent managed to reach its destination which was nice of them.

After I lightened the load, I decided to get a few things to help give myself more of an advantage in the upcoming mission. I visited the gun store and browsed around for anything new that piqued my curiosity. As I browsed around, I found a section that offered several types of ammunition. There were nine types of ammunition that each had a different ability when fired from a firearm. Along with the ammunition, I found a rack of bandoliers that could hold 200 rounds each. They were all brown and made of leather. It was a perfect combination, so I bought one of the bandoliers and 20 rounds of each kind of ammunition they had to offer (Binding, Agonizing, Concussive, Enfeebling, Freezing, Healing, Incendiary, Storm, and Toxic). All of that cost me around 12,500 gold coins but it was well worth it. I came there with the aim of spending some money so that was what I did. It wasn't like it was going to be a waste or anything.

After organizing my newly purchased ammunition into the bandolier, I left to go spend a bit more money. I went and bought a simple black, leather belt to replace my flashy, purple Mindflayer belt. I didn't want to ruin the belt or lose it, so I decided to just keep it back on the ship as a trophy. I walked around and visited a few more stores before heading back to the ship. I wanted to get a closer look at the new ammunition I had and maybe even test a round or two.

When I got back to the ship, Lireal and the others were on the top deck asking around for Mountain's whereabouts. I hadn't seen him and figured he was around town somewhere. Unconvinced, Lireal went to see if he was in his room. When we reached his room and opened the door, the room was completely empty except for a pile of magical items in the middle of the floor with Mark lying on top of it. There was no furniture and no Mountain in sight. As we stepped in, we saw that Mark was playing with a deck of cards... _the_ deck of cards. Lireal immediately confronted him and asked what had happened.

Mark told us that he was taking a nap when suddenly, he fell to the floor as the piece of furniture he was lying on disappeared along with the rest of the furniture in the room. Confused, he said he looked around and saw Mountain wearing nothing. Mountain looked to him and started walking towards him until he disappeared. Mark thought he went invisible but we had a sinking feeling about what really happened.

While he was talking, Mark pulled two cards from the deck: the Wise and Moon cards. I can't remember what the Wise card did, but the Moon card granted the recipient a number of wishes, or so I was told. Lireal grabbed the deck from him but Freya managed to take a card as well and got the Talon card. As soon as Freya looked at her card, all her magical items in her possession disappeared. When she realized what had happened, she was completely devastated.

Lireal knew Mark had some wishes and tried to persuade him to use one to help her recover her magical items back. She told him that Freya had a secret crush on him and helping her by using one of his wishes would be a great show of affection. Of course, that wasn't true but Freya was desperate enough to do anything to get her stuff back and went along with it. Seeing her so upset, Mark used one of his wishes to return all of Freya's magical belongings. As soon as she had all her things back, she graciously thanked Mark and gave him a hug. After doing his good deed for the day, Mark left the room while still wearing some of Mountain's possessions and waving a wand. Lireal quickly gathered the deck and put it away for safe keeping.

After that sobering situation, I went back to my room to digest what had just happened. Everything I had just witnessed just reaffirmed my distrust and extreme reluctance to never pull a card from that deck. I didn't think Freya took the deck seriously up until that point, but after that, I think she finally realized how bad the deck really was. It was a shame, though, that we lost another member to the deck. If what happened to Mountain was the same as what had happened to Roan, then they were both truly lost. The circumstances were eerily similar with nothing remaining but their magical items.

As the sun set and it began to get dark, I started to feel tired and sleepy which was a good sign. It meant that my sleep cycle hadn't been ruined too badly while in hell. I changed out of my hell-diving outfit and back into my normal clothes. After that, I finished what I was doing and retired to the comfort of my bed.

The next day, we all met up and discussed our next move to obtain the fourth and final Orb. From what we could gather, the last orb was located in the capital of the Empire. Where exactly, we didn't know for sure, but we figured we'd do more information gathering once we got there. Moros had already been there once, so we weren't going in blind at least.


	17. The Other Underworld

Once the plan was set, Cane piloted the ship and headed towards the capital. We flew the ship halfway to the capital then found a suitable place to land. Cane brought the ship down on the top of some cliffs and let us off. We figured that approaching the capital on a flying ship would be a death wish for the ship and the crew, so we decided to continue from the halfway point on foot and sneak our way into the city. We were all wanted by the Empire even though we had been thought dead for the past few months, so we had to be a bit discreet in our movements.

Along the way to the capital, we encountered an overturned cart and a small band of Gnolls. We defeated the Gnolls no problem and investigated the cart. It was full of farm equipment and produce, so nothing worth taking with us. The farmers or whoever that owned the cart were nowhere to be found. I took a few moments to loot the bodies and found a silver arm band, which I took. I also received a share of 114 gold coins from the total pool gathered from all the Gnolls and the abandoned cart. After that, we didn't encounter anything noteworthy and arrived at the capital after seven days of traveling on foot.

When we approached the gate leading into the city, Moros cast a spell to disguise us before talking with the guard. We also used fake names to further hide our identities from the Empire. I went by the name of Kia Ruu, after my friend; I also adopted the persona of being an Empire officer, which in hindsight may not have been the best choice with all the Empire around. Freya used the name Susan Smith as her false identity. Moros went by the simple name of Conrad and Lireal chose Ariel as her alias. When we were asked why we were there, Moros said we were going to visit a friend at the bard's college, the Siren's Song Academy. It wasn't a complete lie as Piff was still attending the school and Moros wanted to check up on her. It just wasn't the entire reason why we were at the capital.

After talking with the guard, we entered the city and looked for a place to lay low for a bit. The group found an interesting tavern called the Crossroads Inn and decided to check it out. When we entered, we saw several different types of interdimensional beings lounging around. From Devas and devils to demons and Illithid. They were all socializing and enjoying a drink or two together without any fighting happening between the various races. Behind the bar was a Pit Fiend whom we knew could see through our disguises, but luckily, he didn't seem to care. The tavern seemed like a safe enough place and we heard that the guards rarely frequented the establishment if ever. We continued into the tavern and found a few empty spots to sit and rest.

Moros wanted to buy drinks for everyone, but he was flat broke. I flipped him a gold coin to cover the drinks when he asked for money. Once everyone had their drinks in hand, we all sat around and told our tale starting from the arena up until we got to the capital. I mostly left the storytelling to the other more eloquent members, but I added my input here and there. I spoke up when they were talking about portions that specifically pertained to me, so I had to say something to set the record straight. The story was a hit for those who took the time to listen to our many accounts. We ate and drank while we told our story, and once it was over, we all got separate rooms and went to bed, or at least, that's what I did. What the others did after we were done telling the tale, I didn't exactly know nor cared about.

In the morning, we all met up in the lounge area inside the tavern before heading out. We were going to visit Piff at Siren's Song Academy to see how she was doing. Moros led the group over to the college district where her school was located at. It took us a bit of walking around, but we eventually found the Siren’s Song Academy. As we entered through the front gate, we heard a beautiful woman singing off to the side in a small garden. It turned out it was Piff and once she saw us, she was ecstatic and ran over to meet us. We all took a moment to say hello and tell her all about our adventures. While we were talking, she mentioned that we all go to a bathhouse as a celebration of our reunion.

After briefly catching up, we all followed her and arrived at a nice bathhouse called Azun’s Treasured Bathhouse. It was much nicer than the last one we visited a while back. When we went in, our group was separated by gender which unfortunately left Moros all by himself in the male section of the bathhouse. I’m sure he wanted to talk with Piff more but he was going to have to wait until after we had our fun. At least he had Rollo to keep him busy while Freya, Lireal, Nalya, Piff, and myself had ourselves a nice, relaxing bath. I tried my best not to eavesdrop on the other gals, but I think at one point Nalya and Piff were talking about Moros and what he meant to Piff. I could’ve been wrong, but that was what it sounded like. I just tried to focus myself on the relaxing feeling of the warm water surrounding my body.

Afterwards, we all met back up after getting dressed and had some tea. Piff had a nice place she wanted to try and led us over to it. It was called Tea-baxi Dreams and to be honest, it was some of the best tea I had, though, I wasn’t much of a tea drinker. While we were there, we all talked more about stuff and just enjoyed our time together.

After catching up, Piff went back to the college to continue her studies while the rest of us went to the library to find some information on the last orb. When we got there, we split off into two groups. Moros, Lireal, and Nalya went to find information on the orb while Freya, Rollo, and I just looked around to keep ourselves entertained. There was a display case with old firearms inside so that immediately caught my eye. I wandered over to it and began inspecting the pieces on display there. There was only one other person there in that section of the library, so I kept quiet as to not bother him.

As I was looking at the weapon display, the man I saw earlier came over and started talking with me. He was wearing a nice suit but was lacking any sort of footwear. It seemed odd, but I didn’t judge him. He noticed the pistol I had holstered at my side and inquired about it, saying he was an admirer of weapons like that and wanted to see mine. He told me that high-ranking officers in the Empire guard carried them which is where he remembered seeing them. Not at all wanting to shy away from an opportunity to brag about my gear, I happily obliged and took out my pistol. I unloaded the weapon and made sure it was safe before handing it to the fellow firearms enthusiast. The man, who appeared to be human, took it and brought it over to his table to get a closer look.

I followed him and stood by his chair as he took a seat. He said his name was Bill and he was very familiar with how firearms worked and how they were built. He told me all about it as he went about disassembling my pistol piece by piece. Then suddenly, he asked who I was out of the blue. Remembering my false identity, I introduced myself using the false name but for some reason, he didn’t buy it. Even with the disguise spell, the guy knew who I was. He pulled out a wanted poster that had everyone’s face on it except for the members we picked up after the arena. I gripped the hilt of my sword and was about to cut him down just for knowing who we were, but he said he wasn’t our enemy. Putting away the poster, he said he knew Jasper and was an acquaintance of hers. He then finished reassembling my pistol and handed it back, saying that whatever we were up to, he wanted in. I kept a close eye on him as I holstered my sidearm. I told him that our mission was sensitive and I didn’t have the authority to just let him come along with us. I tried to tell him to buzz off but he was insistent.

Unsure of what to do, I gathered Freya and Rollo and went to go find the others. They weren’t in the library so we went outside to see if they were around. The others were waiting for us on the steps so when we got over to them, I told them what Bill knew and wanted from us. Bill’s friend, Nim, also came out with us. I thought he was just an employee for the library, but there was more to him than met the eye.

Before we could talk things out, we spotted a large troop of Empire guards heading in our direction. Bill and Nim were sure they were going to recognize us, so they led us away from the area. Freya had wandered off while we were talking on the steps, but luckily we ran into her as we escaped. Bill and Nim led us down some side streets and got us to safety in one of their safehouses. Once we were inside, we met a familiar face. Jasper was there which added some truth to what Bill said to me in the library. After we saw her, Jasper filled us in as to what she had been up to since we last met.

Jasper had been masquerading as a guard since arriving at the capital. After she brought the group of civilians to a port city, she decided to go to the capital on her own. She killed an Empire guard, took their uniform, and had been pretending to be an Empire guard ever since. She also got acquainted with one of the two main mafia families located in the capital in order to find out more information for us.

While she was talking, Lireal made a creepy blood pact with one of the people in that dirty sewer. It was completely unsanitary and we hardly knew these people. From what we could gather, the people who managed the safehouse were part of a large gang organization that was gunning for control of the capital. They were in competition with another family for power over the city. Fortunately, the family Jasper and the others were allied with had no love for the Empire. Their rivals, however, were allied with them, so it meant we were with the lesser of the two evils.

Once the area above us was safe enough, we left the safehouse and returned to Crossroads Inn. Moros had cast his disguise spell again so it was a bit easier to move around the city streets without being harassed. Bill and Nim told us that there was a special type of guard that could see through our disguises. They wore silver helmets and were part of a group called the Silver Blade. We made it back to the inn without running into any of those types of guards which was fortunate for us.

We all filed into the inn and relaxed our guard. The establishment was still filled with odd beings but at least there weren’t any Empire soldiers around. Freya tried her hand at gambling and played some sort of card game which she lost. As we were all unwinding, Bill said that he was going to leave us to attend to some errands and later meet us at the safehouse in two days. In the meantime, Nim volunteered to be our guide in the city and suggested doing some shopping to pass the time.

I didn’t mind shopping and it would’ve been fun to spend some money except all my money was in the bank in Dwarforge. I only had a small amount for basic purchases so I couldn’t afford anything grandiose. I grumbled to myself as I was sure I was going to find tons of interesting things to buy in the shopping district. Since the others felt like shopping as well, Nim led the way over to the shopping district to see what it had to offer.

When we got there, we went from shop to shop, browsing around for anything that could have been useful or interesting to us. Inside the first place we entered, the shopkeep welcomed us in a friendly manner until he saw me. He must’ve thought I was with the Empire guard because he reverted to a more guarded posture. It seemed like he was going to show us all the good stuff but after he spotted me, he stopped. Not wanting to rain on everyone’s parade, I decided to step outside to put the shopkeep at ease. Nim followed after me and told me to wait a second. Once we were out of sight, he turned us invisible so that we could follow the others inside the shop. We discreetly entered back inside and followed the group as they were being led to a secret passage within the store. The shopkeep was bringing everyone down into a secret warehouse where he kept the black-market goods. Nim and I followed and kept hidden while he talked to the others and bartered with them. He had a lot of interesting wares but it was all too pricey for me. Lireal and Moros bought a few items but the cost of it all was enormous. I felt like a poor beggar when I heard the amount of money they had to spend. I just watched and waited until everyone headed back outside. After that shop, we continued down the lane hitting up another shop every now and then.

The next one we deiced to enter was a curios shop called Mord’s Hoard. The shop was owned by a retired adventurer who was selling goods and treasures from his many adventures. Luckily, he didn’t have a problem with me so I was able to browse around, looking for nothing in particular. There was the intriguing item here and there but nothing I felt worth buying. The prices for the items there weren’t cheap either, but nothing compared to the last shop. I told him that I could maybe use some bracers or a new sword but he didn’t have anything like that. He then mentioned another shop I should try so I thanked him for his time and hospitality then left.

After leaving Mord’s Hoard, we continued on and tried another shop called Merlin’s Magical Mercantile. The owner was much livelier than the previous ones and had a very particular item of interest that caught Moros’ attention. The owner of the store had a hat that Moros really wanted and asked where he could get one like his. While they talked, I looked around but didn’t find anything that interested me. It was mostly items and things for magic users so I really didn’t find much use in it all. After Moros got the name of a nearby store that could help him, we left and headed out to give it a look.

The shop we were looking for was called Bonnets and Brims. When we got there, Moros was overjoyed to hear they could make a hat like the one he wanted. Good for him. When I asked how much it would cost to get my hat enchanted, they told me a simple defense enchantment would run me around 10,000 gold coins. That was way out of price range for the amount of money I had on me at the time. I then asked how much it would cost to get my mask enchanted with some sort of enchantment that would disguise my voice, like, make it a bit deeper or more intimidating sounding. That would cost me only 8,000 gold coins to get done. Now, that would have been all fine and dandy if I had access to my funds in Dwarforge, but I didn’t. After being disappointed by my small carrying capacity, I looked around for something more reasonable and saw a display of glasses that looked interesting. I found one that was red with tinted lenses. The shopkeep told me it allowed the wearer to see up to 20ft in the dark. The pair of glasses were pretty cute and would be a nice alternative for the eye patch I had, not that there was anything wrong with it. The glasses were just more… stylish and practical. When I asked how much it would cost, the owner said it would be around 80,000 gold coins. At that point, I just gave up trying to buy anything and went outside. Once Moros put the order in for his hat, we continued on.

Next, we visited a weapon shop and looked around. I found a nice katana that was expertly made and intricately decorated. It was all black -even the blade- and felt nice to wield. It only cost 900 gold coins, but it was still a bit much more than I had on me at the time. It would have been a nice addition to my collection if I had been able to purchase it. I also found a nice dagger but it was priced at 20,000 gold coins.

After getting our fill of shopping, we decided to call it a night. Freya and Lireal wanted a bit more fun before heading back. They stopped at some sort of dream establishment while the rest of us went back to the Crossroads Inn. When I got there, I went straight to my room and got ready for bed. Later, Freya and Lireal told us they spent three months inside a dream when they actually only spent an hour in real-time at the dream place. They said it was the best time of their lives. It sounded like fun and I thought about giving it a try eventually.

The next day was spent pretty much doing the same while we passed the time. We did some more window shopping and had some quick bites to eat here and there. Nothing too eventful. After two days had passed, we all met in the lounge of the Crossroads Inn and had breakfast together. Jasper came by still wearing her guard disguise and told us she managed to arrange a meeting with the Don, the leader of the mafia family she was associated with. After breakfast, we split up to take care of a few last minute things.

When it was time to meet up again, we went to the safehouse to rendezvous with Bill. After getting there, Bill rejoined the group and reminded us to mind our manners when we went to meet the Don. When everyone was ready, Jasper led us out of that stink hole and towards the meeting place.

We walked through the city and eventually arrived at a fancy restaurant, making our way inside. It was completely void of people except for an elf woman wearing a nice, red dress and someone else. The elf woman was on a stage singing for the only other person we could see there. He was sitting alone at a table in front of the stage eating a steak. Before we approached the table, Bill handed Nim a bag. Nim took it and approached the Don first to make initial contact on our behalf. The rest of us just stood behind him until we were motioned to take a seat opposite of the Don at the table.

Once we had our seats, we each introduced ourselves to him using our real names. There was no use lying to him as his people already had a firm grasp on our identities. After the introductions, Nim gave the bag to the Don as a sort of offering. It was a bag of fine tobacco that was apparently homegrown by Bill or someone he knew personally. The Don took the offering and accepted it after a brief inspection. He then motioned over to one of his staff nearby who then hurried off somewhere. Shortly after he left, he returned with fully cooked steaks for the each of us. Rollo was initially forgotten until Freya requested one for her companion. The chef then went back and tossed him a raw T-bone to munch on. Personally, I wasn’t hungry for something a strange and powerful person had arranged for us. Some of the others (Freya), on the other hand, dug right in without any concern as to what the consequences could have been for eating the steak. Freya quickly finished hers and was looking for more. Not wanting mine, I casually pushed my plate over to her which she graciously took.

While those who were willing to brave it ate the steak, the Don asked us what we were doing in the capital and what we wanted. We told him we were looking for the final Orb and needed information as to where it was exactly. The Don, who introduced himself as Leon LeBeaux, listened to our plight and made us a deal. He had some dirty work that needed to be done so in exchange for taking care of his business, he would look for the information that we wanted himself, using his many contacts. There was some apprehension amongst the others for doing errands that could possibly be considered criminal in nature, but we had no other choice. It seemed like we were constantly coming across situations where we had no other choice than to side with evil in order to do good. We accepted the deal and he gave us the details of the tasks he wanted us to carry out.

The Don wanted us to collect protection money that a few people around the city still owed him. They were all shop owners and he said that if they did not cooperate, we were to get the money by any means necessary. That meant that if need be, we were allowed to harass the owners by roughing them up or destroying some of their merchandise. We were also allowed to take some of their goods to make up for the money they owed. He did, however, caution restraint because if the shops closed down, there was no money to be made from them. As long as we didn’t completely destroy their business or livelihood, we were free to do as we pleased. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that, we thought, but we had to do whatever we had to for the greater good. There were three shops we had to shake down and after that, there was a delivery job that he wanted us to carry out on his behalf. For the first step, we decided to break up into three teams of two to handle the shops simultaneously. After that, we would meet up to tackle the delivery job together. The Don finished by giving us the location of a dead-drop that would have the specific details of our job. After we had what we needed, we thanked the Don for his hospitality then left the restaurant to begin our tasks.

After leaving the restaurant, we all went to the drop point together and found a piece of parchment in a garbage bin. On it there were the names of three stores, a pick-up location, two drop-off locations, and a time. We figured the time on the parchment referred to when we needed to be at the pick-up location to retrieve the package. The two drop-off locations were where we guessed the package was supposed to go. But that was all for later. First, we had to deal with the stores and the money we had to get from them. Like we decided earlier, we broke into three teams of two to handle it all at the same time. I was paired with Moros, Lireal with Freya, and lastly Nim and Bill.

Once we had our assigned teams, we moved out to tackle the stores. Moros and I were tasked with going to a store called Everybody Loves Raiment. It was a clothing store that specialized in non-magical attire. When we got there, we prepared ourselves mentally and emotionally as we went inside while disguised, hoping that we wouldn’t have to resort to anything too drastic to get the money. Inside, there was only the owner and his two sons present; no costumers were there at the time which was good. The less people that had to be dealt with, the better.

After we had entered the establishment, we singled out the owner and approached him with Moros taking the lead. Moros asked the owner what he thought we were there for which caused him to stiffen up. He gave us a firm look as his two sons started heading towards the door when they noticed the tension. I opened up the door and motioned for them to leave. Thankfully, they went outside without any resistance and waited off to the side as they started talking amongst themselves. After they had left, I locked the door and flipped the sign from “Open” to “Closed”. Once it was just us and the owner, we continued getting down to business as we asked for the money he owed the Don. It took a lot of talking to and we almost had to resort to violence, but fortunately the owner came to his senses and gave in. He continued to give us an annoyed look as he went into the back office and came back with a lockbox full of money.

Moros took the box and asked what the money was for and why he owed so much. The owner was still rather cross with us and wasn’t interested in small talk. Moros tried once again to get any information he could and maybe even help him if possible, but the owner wasn’t having any of it. Moros and I looked to each other then just shrugged. We took the lockbox and left the store, running into Jasper outside. She had been standing watch and was going to check in on all three teams. She told us to hold on to the lockbox until after everything was accomplished. She then left while Moros and I went back to the meet-up point.

Eventually, everyone came back after having successfully gotten the money from their respective shops. Nim and Bill had an easy time as well, not having to resort to violence or anything underhanded. Freya and Lireal, however, had to be a little more forward with their shop owner. They didn’t give specifics, but they had to resort to other means to get the money. After meeting up, we looked at the parchment once more then headed out to the pick-up point. It was by the docks and we arrived a tad early, so we just waited around until the prescribed time where the package would hopefully be brought to us.

As it grew nearer to the appointed time, we saw a boat traveling down the river except it was scrapping the sides of the waterway and overall causing a scene. When it got to where we were, someone on the deck of the ship grabbed a large crate and hurled it at us on the docks. The crate tumbled a bit and we were sure that whatever was inside had been jostled around or even broken. We were confused at first, wondering if this was the package we were meant to bring to the two drop-off points. We waited around to see if anyone else showed up to deliver anything, but no one did. Not wanting to waste any more time, we then went and retrieved the crate with Lireal summoning an ape to carry it for us.

Looking at the parchment, we made our way over to a clinic to make the first drop-off. We didn’t know what was inside the crate, only that it contained glass containers based on the sounds the crate made when we moved it. We walked through the streets with Nim and Bill taking the lead as we moved. We arrived at the clinic and met with one of the nurses there to let them know we had a delivery. The contact there opened the crate and took out two small boxes containing white powder. I think she inhaled some of the residue that came from the package as she immediately began to act strange. It seemed the package contained some sort of drug, maybe of the illegal type, so I made sure to keep my distance and not inhale any of it.

After the items that needed to be dropped off at the clinic were taken care of, we took the large crate and headed off to the last stop. When we got there, it was a shop called the Pipedream. I didn’t get a look at what we were dropping off but I didn’t care. I was just glad that we could get all this over with. There was only so much illicit activity I could handle per day.

Once the deliveries were all done with, we went back to the Don to drop off the money we collected from the shops. We each placed the lockbox we received in front of the Don as proof of our success. He was pleased with our efforts and the manner in which we completed our jobs. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the information we needed just yet and had one more job for us. He told us that a high-profile supporter of the Emperor was in town and needed to be eradicated before the Emperor returned from his business in Fasach. He gave Nim a vial of clear liquid with a smoky aura to use in the endeavor. We were a little ticked off that we had to do more criminal activities, but fortunately for us, Nim said he’d take care of it himself. The Don didn’t care who did it as long as it got done. He then told us to meet him the next day around noon for the information. He assured us that he’d have it by then.

While Nim went to take care of the Don’s task, the rest of us left the restaurant to wait for his return. Freya and Lireal broke away from the group to hit up a bar while the rest of us went back to the Crossroads Inn. When I got back, I sat with Jasper for a bit and talked about the gangs in the city. I asked her what the rival family was like and that was when I learned about the Geionovis Family and their ties to the Empire. We talked for a bit longer before I went back to my room and went to sleep.

In the morning, we all met downstairs in the inn. After waiting for a while, Freya and Lireal were nowhere to be found. It was just me, Moros, Jasper, Nim, Bill, and Nalya who decided to join us that day. As time went on, we decided to go looking for them, remembering that they went to a bar the night before.

We left the inn and headed towards the bar we thought Freya and Lireal had visited. Along the way, we spotted an injured Rollo wandering through the streets for his owner. As we drew near, Rollo spotted us and hurried over to our location. He seemed panicked and Freya and Lireal were still nowhere to be seen. Nim cast a spell that allowed him to communicate with Rollo and found out that Freya and Lireal were in trouble. Rollo then ran off so we followed after him as he led us into the rich district. We had to be careful as there were guard patrols all around so we moved as discreetly as we could to avoid detection. Eventually, we arrived outside a particular building that Rollo seemed to believe was where Freya and Lireal was. There was a gate there that led inside and was unguarded from the looks of things. We made sure the disguise spell was still working then approached the gate.

Nim took the lead and tried to persuade the guard on the other side to open the door. The guard wouldn't even open the little security window until Nim got the better of him. Once the guard opened the window to see what the deal was, Nim cast a spell that allowed him to take control of the guard. He had the guard open the door for us and lead us further into the building. The interior of the building was guarded by what appeared to be mere thugs and didn't seem to be part of the Empire army. Unfortunately, the spell wore off and the guard regained his senses. Before we could get him under control, he ran off and alerted the rest of the guards in the premises.

I sighed and prepared myself for a battle, not that it was going to be difficult or anything based on what we saw on the way through. Shortly after the door guard had left, more regular thugs wielding clubs and simple leather armor came to take his place. As soon as we engaged them, we heard two familiar voices coming from behind them. It seemed Freya and Lireal had broken out of their cells all on their own and were attacking the guards from behind. The ensuing battle, if you could call it that, lasted mere moments as we cut them all down with ease. It was a complete massacre but I wouldn't say they didn’t all deserved it. It turned out we were in a slaving facility and Freya and Lireal were about to be sold as slaves before they escaped. More dead slavers to fill hell with. I hated slavers.

Once we killed just about everyone in the building, we helped Freya and Lireal recover any of their missing belongings before leaving the place. They told us that instead of going to a bar to pick some fights, they found an actual fightclub and bet on themselves to win. In their first and only match, they went up against a halfling and a large man in an all-out brawl using only hand-to-hand combat. They ended up losing the fight and as a result, were taken to that slaver's holding area to be sold off as slaves.

After clearing out the building, Nim said he contacted a friendly organization to come and free all the remaining slaves. Since we had what we came for, we had made haste and left before the Empire guards showed up. After making our way back out onto the streets, we made our way back to the Crossroads Inn and laid low until it was time to meet up with the Don again.

An hour or so passed before it was time to head back out. We all gathered up and made our way to the Don's restaurant to see if he had the information we asked for. When we got there, the Don was accompanied by a very muscular guard wearing an Empire uniform. Once I saw him, I was immediately put on guard until I realized he could be a spy just like Jasper was. We sat in front of the Don but he motioned our attention towards the guard. He gave us a piece of parchment that had a single name and his address. The man's name was Retoran Dal-Geyess, a wealthy merchant living in the rich district. The guard told us that he (and by proxy, the Don) was sure that the man had the information we wanted. He warned us, though, that the house was heavily guarded and that he had strong ties with the Empire. As for the information, it was up to us about we were going to go about obtaining it. Once we had everything we needed, we bid the Don farewell and thanked him once more before heading back to the Crossroads Inn to plan our raid.

We discussed what we knew and came to a consensus on a plan of action. We planned to hit his house at night and go about a stealthy approach for as long as we could. Once we had the details of the plan more or less figured out, we waited until dark before heading out. We traversed the streets carefully and made our way back into the rich district, using the address on the parchment to find Retoran's abode.

It was a large house, almost like a small mansion. There was a small compliment of guards that patrolled the outside and we were sure there were more on the inside. We heard rumors that he was once married, but his wife had left him for reasons we weren't sure of. The house wasn't secured by a perimeter fence or a gate, so we were able to just walk up to the front door if we wanted to. And that was exactly what we did.

Nim and I acted as a distraction and directly approached the front door of the house. He masqueraded as a wealthy merchant and I acted as his guard. Meanwhile, Moros and Freya snuck around the back and managed to find a way into the house via the cellar. The others (Lireal, Bill, Nalya, Jasper, and Rollo) remained on standby to act as a distraction in case things went sour and we needed help escaping the house. Nim and I distracted the door guard and tried to persuade our way into the house. After some back and forth talk, Nim convinced the guard to find better employment elsewhere which allowed us access to the house unopposed. Once the guard left to pursue greener pastures, Nim and I went inside and looked for Retoran's private quarters. We passed by a couple guards, but they just gave us a passing glance and didn't bother asking who we were or what we were up to.

Eventually, we met up with Freya and Moros who had managed to sneak all the way into the house and found Retoran. Retoran was inside his study on the second floor with one guard protecting him. Before we could strike, Freya wandered off to explore more of the surrounding rooms while Moros and Nim came up with a plan. Moros was going to neutralize the guard while I kept watch for additional guards. When we were ready, Moros targeted the lone guard and managed to bring him into the Aetherial Plane while I stood watch in the doorway. Nim then approached Retoran and began his interrogation.

Using some information that Freya had found during her exploration, we managed to get what we came for. Freya had found what appeared to be an abandoned child's room and in a trunk, a birth certificate for what we assumed was his child. Nim used the child's name, Ryneus, to break Retoran which made it easier for him to divulge the information. He explained that he had a child who was horribly disfigured and eventually, his wife took the child and his family heirloom to live elsewhere in solitude. He told us that they escaped to a place called Silver Grove north in Marais and he had not seen them since. I asked him if he was lying but Nim reassured me that everything he said was true.

Once we had what we needed, we stealthily made our escape out his balcony and back towards the front of the house. We regrouped with the others and headed back to the Crossroads Inn to plan our next move. We talked things over and once we had a plan, we turned in for the night after a successful day of work.

The next day, we went about returning to the ship which was parked a good distance away from the capital. Bill and Nim asked if they could tag along and we all agreed since they had been helpful so far. Bill used some teleportation magic using a tree and managed to teleport us within a day's walk from the ship then again to just below the ship. It would had taken us almost a week to travel that distance by foot but Bill managed to do it in mere moments.

When we arrived back at the ship, we were greeted by the happy smiles of the crew and the menacing roar of a silver dragon that was right next to the ship. The others and I froze in horror as we thought the dragon was attacking the ship, but the crew didn't even seem to mind the dragon's presence. Once the dragon noticed us, it turned its head towards us and exclaimed that we had returned as if it knew us. We all hurried to get back on the ship and once we were on the top deck with the rest of the crew, they informed us that Mark must've used one of his wishes to turn himself into a dragon. Upon hearing that, I was relieved as I didn't feel like fighting a dragon at the moment. Once the initial shock of realizing the dragon was actually Mark wore off, we all went into the dining room and had dinner with the crew.

After we were settled in and the new team members introduced to the others, we set sail and headed north towards Silver Grove in Marais. Cane said it would probably be a two-week trip, so we had some time to unwind and prepare for when we got there. In the meantime, I showed Bill and Nim to their rooms and helped them get further settled in. Bill chose Mountain's old room since it was completely empty and could more easily decorate it. Nim wanted to be close to the library, so I gave him Idu's old room.

Once they had been taken care of, I went about carrying out a few more of my unofficial official duties. I took the Bag of Holding Lireal had bought in the capital and transferred the group fund into it. That way, we had easy access to it wherever we went. I left the bag in the Captain's quarters for safekeeping in the meantime while we were on the ship. After that, I decided to take inventory of the armory to make sure we were well stocked in case the crew needed to take up arms and defend the ship. While I was there, Nim stopped by and we chatted a bit. I learned that he was well versed in finding out bits of information and that if I had any questions or wanted to know something, I should seek him out. At the time, I didn't have anything in mind that was bugging me, so I told him if I needed anything, I'd let him know. After a few more words, he said goodbye and left me to my work.

The rest of the trip was rather uneventful and soon enough, we were approaching our destination after about two weeks had passed. It was raining heavily and the winds had picked up severely. The weather was beginning to be too much for the ship and Cane was forced to put it down. According to the maps we had, we weren't that far from Silver Grove, so we decided to proceed on foot. The away party consisted of me, Moros, Lireal, Freya, Rollo, Bill, and Nim.

The weather was still pretty bad as we trekked through the forest. We figured that there was a hurricane or something just off the coast and that was the cause of the extreme weather conditions. While we were traveling down a large road, we heard loud roars in the distance but couldn't tell what was causing it. Eventually, we were attacked by five large creatures that we couldn't immediately identify. At first, they looked like Slaads but we later found out they were Bonerippers. During the encounter, I managed to kill one but that was before Bill unleashed his secret weapon. He cast a combination of spells and caused all of us to transform into Tyrannosaurus Rexes (except for Moros who was turned into a Mammoth). After that, we made short work of the remaining enemies but two still managed to escape. Being transformed into such a large creature was unnerving at first, but I slowly began to ease into it, and just as I had begun to get used to it, I reverted back to my normal self.

After the battle, we continued on and found ourselves traveling through a tight chasm. It was still raining hard and thundering as we slowly tried to make our way through the tight passageway. Before we knew it, we were all knocked unconscious from what we thought were large boulders that had fallen on us. Later, we discovered that was not the case.


	18. Innocence Lost

When I woke up, I was more than confused as I looked around. It was sunny and warm yet we were still soaked from the rain. The rain had stopped and the weather was clear. Upon further inspection, we were still in the valley from before except there was now a path that led down to a gate with a watchtower adjacent to it. I guessed that we didn't noticed it earlier because of the weather. After we got back on our feet and made sure we were all present and accounted for, we headed down the path towards the gate.

As we drew near, we noticed a guard manning the gate as he leaned against the watchtower. When we approached, he acted friendly enough, but perhaps a bit too friendly. He began to garner some suspicions from some of the others but the guard assured us he meant no ill intent. He told us that we had arrived at Silver Grove and that the gate before us was the only way in or out. After some talking, the guard opened the gate and allowed us to continue towards the town.

When we approached the town, we figured that we should visit the inn first, which was called the Silent Moons Inn. The innkeeper there was nice as well, welcoming us with open arms. She even gave us a complimentary date fruit cake which Lireal and Freya dug into. Dates weren't my thing so I allowed the others to have their fill. While we had her attention, we asked the innkeeper if there was a young boy in town that went by the name of Ryneus. The innkeeper was familiar with name and told us all about him. He had gained a famed status after he discovered a silver vein which helped bring the town great prosperity. The silver mine had been a great asset for the town and everyone was grateful for Ryneus for coming to their town. When he arrived, he was taken in by a man named Olbar and had been living with his adopted father ever since. She then told us where he lived which was right across the street.

After finding all that out, we left the inn to visit Ryneus' residence. We walked up to his house and cautiously knocked on the door. When the door finally opened, Freya and a few of the others were struck with a sense of confusion as the person who answered it looked exactly like Freya's father. I had never seen the man, but Freya and the others who helped her in Dawsburry were familiar with him. Freya asked him who he was and he replied that his name was Olbar and was Ryneus' father. Still very confused, we followed him inside the house to the main room where he was working on a wooden rocking horse. Nim decided to stand outside to keep watch for anything suspicious. When we were inside, we asked him if Ryneus was around and Olbar told us that he was playing in his room. Lireal, Moros, and Bill went to see Ryneus while I stayed with Freya as she continued to figure out why Olbar looked exactly like her father.

While the others went to Ryneus' room, Freya and I continued to talk with Olbar. We found out that Olbar was born and raised in Silver Grove which added to the mystery behind his appearance. He once had a wife, but she had died due to a plague. To fill the void, he adopted Ryneus when he was dropped off at the town with no apparent guardian. I asked him about Ryneus' disfigurement and he told me that when he found the boy, he had bumps and tumors around his face and all over one of his legs; however, as Ryneus continued to live in Silver Grove, his ailment began to go away and he was completely healed. After talking for some time, Olbar told us he had some business at the beach and that we should follow him. Freya and I wanted to wait for the others but decided they'd be fine so we followed after him.

When we got to the beach, the others were already there along with a young boy and his dog. It appeared that they found Ryneus and he looked nothing like we had expected. When Freya and I regrouped with the others, they told us about the deal they made with Ryneus. In exchange for showing us where his family heirloom was, which also happened to be the Yellow Orb, he wanted us to grant him three wishes or requests that we had to do. I personally wouldn't have accepted those terms, but we had no other choice. While we were talking, Olbar went over to a crate and adjusted a few things before talking with Ryneus. Once he was done talking, Olbar went back home while Ryneus came over to us.

Ryneus explained what the crate was then pulled a lever. Once he did, a blue orb-like thing came out and started to float in midair. He said it was an artifact his father had found in the nearby ruins and it was called a Pyrean Sphere. Olbar repaired it and turned it into a sort of plaything for Ryneus. Around the crate were several standard bows and baskets of training arrows. After showing us how the crate worked, he told us about his first wish. He wanted us to try out the crate and practice shooting arrows at it, but most of all, he stressed that we all had to have fun while doing it.

It seemed easy enough, I thought, even though I had little to no experience using a bow and arrow. We all lined up and took one of the bows, even Freya who decided not to use her own bow. There were three levels of difficulty which made the orb move faster and become more evasive. When we started at the first level, most of us managed to hit our target which impressed Ryneus. We continued to loose our arrows as the difficulty increased after a while. Once we ran out of practice arrows, he switched the lever which recalled the orb back into the crate. He was thoroughly satisfied with our performance, even though we missed some arrows every now and then, and told us that we had fulfilled his first request. Once we were done on the beach, he told us to follow him back home where he'd give us his second request.

When we got back to his house, Ryneus led us into a room filled with butterflies. Some were in jars while others were just fluttering about. He told us that one of his hobbies was studying butterflies by drawing them in his book. He had seen and studied several species of butterfly but one had eluded him so far. It was called the Silver Moon butterfly and he wanted us to retrieve some for him as his second request. He went to a shelf and retrieve a crate of 15 glass jars but said we only needed to capture six for him. He said that each butterfly of that species had a unique design so he wanted us to get numerous specimens for him to draw. After we had the jars, he told us what the butterflies looked like and where they could be found. He also told us a tip where we could listen for a specific sound the butterflies made which meant they were close. Once we had the jars and necessary information, he sent us on our way while he waited in front of the nearby tavern.

I started to wonder if we were really going to be able to get the orb after doing such mundane tasks for a mere child. I mean how did he get the Orb in the first place? It all seemed a bit too... easy, but I had nothing to go on except my gut feeling. So, for the time being, I decided to play along until we got what we needed. When we got to the meadow Ryneus said the butterflies lived, we got down to business. We each took a jar and spread out to look for the specific species of butterfly he wanted. In the beginning, we caught a lucky streak as three of us, including me, managed to each spot a butterfly and capture it using our jars. I can't believe I was able to nab one as it just hovered in front of me then landed on a rock. Seeing an opportunity, I opened the jar and held it in one hand with the lid in the other. As the butterfly seemed to not notice me, I just brought the jar and lid together with the butterfly in the middle, successfully trapping it inside. It took us a while longer before we managed to capture three more butterflies. Once we had what we needed, we began to head off. Freya was determined to catch one even though we already had six and stayed behind.

After returning from the meadow, we met up with Ryneus in front of the tavern and showed him the six butterflies we managed to capture. Freya eventually caught one on her own and met up with us as we went back to Ryneus' house. He was very pleased with our accomplishment, taking the specimens from us and placing them in his room while we waited in the main room. When he returned, he was ready to give us his final request but first, he wanted us to follow him to a nearby ruin first. That struck a suspicious nerve in most of us but we didn't say anything. We were almost done with his requests and the two so far hadn't been all that worrying. We remained hopeful, so we played along but also kept our guard up.

Following Ryneus' directions, we left the town and headed to the nearby ruins like he wanted. We crossed a stream and came upon a wooded area where we were confronted by two black panthers. Not wanting him to see any potential violence, Moros temporarily evacuated Ryneus to the Aetherial Plane and left the rest to us. The panthers wouldn't back down so the others quickly took care of them and utterly destroyed them. Before Moros and Ryneus came back, Nim took the mangled corpses and tossed them into the forest using his telekinesis spell. Just after he did, Moros and Ryneus reappeared safe and sound. Once the threat had been dealt with, we continued on and spotted a small structure that seemed be abandoned.

Before we went inside, Nim used a spell which allowed him to see through walls. He discreetly notified us, except Ryneus, that he saw three humanoid skeletons inside and went ahead to clear the area of any potential threats. We kept an eye on Ryneus as well as our surroundings for any potential ambush but nothing happened. Shortly after, Nim returned saying he had secured the area, not mentioning the skeletons for Ryneus' sake. When it was safe, we went into the ruins at Ryneus' request. Upon entering the room where Nim saw the skeletons, Ryneus remarked that he remembered seeing them there before but was perplexed as to why they were missing. Nim had hid them, wanting to spare Ryneus the sight of the dead, but it seemed that it was all done in vain. Ryneus then went on to tell us the story behind the skeletons as Nim returned them back to their original place after hiding them.

Ryneus said that the skeletons were most likely a long-passed family that settled the area after having escaped the Empire. They were a wealthy family and had grown sick of living under the Empire's rule, so they escaped and eventually built a house where the others and I were standing. Sadly though, the supplies that kept the family alive began to arrive later and later until they stopped coming altogether. The parents died first of starvation, leaving the child to live the remainder of his short life alone. As he was on his final breaths, he made a wish to one of the gods which caused the valley and the surrounding area to burst into lush vegetation, making it the very prosperous town it had eventually grown to become. Ryneus said it was all a legend, but he guessed the family he found was the same one from the story.

After telling us that sad story, we continued on and entered a cave that was attached to the ruins of the house. Things were getting spooky and very unnerving as we continued through the dark corridors. Even though he was just a kid, I discreetly drew my pistol and held at my side to ease my nerves. There was no telling what he had planned for us.

At the end of the corridor, we entered a large cavern with breaks in the ceiling, allowing sunlight to enter. In the center of the cavern was a raised platform with stairs leading up to it. Ryneus ushered us over to the platform where a large painting sitting on an easel waited for us. We all stood in awe as we gazed upon the painting. It depicted all of us standing with Ryneus and two other individuals at the beach all looking out towards a sunset. It was both creepy and awe-inspiring at the same time. Ryneus then turned to us and explained his third and final wish before he handed over his family heirloom. He wanted all of us to stay in Silver Grove with him and be part of his family, forever.

The notion of forever was pretty weighty and I'm sure none of us wanted to stay there with the kid for the rest of our lives. We had a mission to do not to mention our own lives that we wanted to live. We kindly declined his offer then tried to persuade him to other alternatives.

During the negotiations, the truth about him, the family heirloom, and the town of Silver Grove came to light. It turned out that the version of Silver Grove that we had experienced wasn't the true Silver Grove. The truth was that when he arrived at the town, he wasn't exactly greeted with open arms like we had when we first arrived. People were afraid of him, disgusted by his appearance, and accused him of practicing black magic, which of course wasn't true. The longer he continued to reside in the town, the more the inhabitants hated him for reasons that weren't his fault. The only person who truly cared about him was his foster father, Olbar.

Tragedy struck when a woman had a heart attack and died outside his residence to which the people blamed him for her death, which was completely unfounded. Because of that, the townsfolk stormed into his house to seek vengeance. Ryneus' father tried to keep the frantic people back but was eventually stabbed by a knife, repeatedly in fact. As his father lay bleeding and dying beside his bed, Ryneus clutched his family heirloom which was an amulet with the Yellow Orb fashioned into it. He heard voices in his head and wished everything would stop and change to how he wanted it to be. The Orb took pity on the boy and created an alternate reality for him to live in where his wishes became reality. The influence of the dream encompassed the entirety of Silver Grove and everyone who resided in it, making it an ideal version where he dictated every aspect of it, that is, until we showed up.

Up until our arrival, Ryneus had more or less controlled everything that happened in the new Silver Grove. The weather was always ideal, the townsfolk were nice and idolized him, and his father was alive and well. It was all due to his wants and desires that everything was allowed to continue being. Then we showed up. He noticed that we still had free will and weren't being controlled by him and the power of the Orb. That interested him so he befriended us to become part of his family to keep him company.

Unfortunately, we couldn't realize his final wish so we came up with an alternative plan. Moros offered to find a spot for him in his college to learn magic and perhaps find a way to cure his ailment. We promised to visit him in the college when we could and would have fun with him whenever we were together. I was never a fan of kids nor was a sucker for emotional situations, but everything that was happening started to get to me as I listened to his story and everything in-between.

Finding peace with the new arrangement, Ryneus agreed to Moros' new plan and went about showing us where the family heirloom was. He pulled out an amulet from within his shirt and began to lift it over his head. As he did, a sharp pain struck his head as he suddenly transformed into a large, grotesque creature with the amulet nowhere in sight. I was surprisingly caught off guard as it happened, still clutching my pistol in hand as I witnessed the beast come to full form in front of us. I wasn't sure if what was before us was still Ryneus or not, so I withheld from attacking for the moment. The others hesitated at first then tried to restrain the creature the best they could using non-lethal force Attempts to subdue or incapacitate the creature failed and it began to get very aggressive as it attacked some of the others. Seeing no other choice, the others switched to lethal tactics and held nothing back. I couldn't bring myself to attack it without knowing if Ryneus was still in there somewhere, so I stayed back and kept my pistol lowered. Eventually, the combined might of everyone's attacks brought the creature to death's door as it began to turn to ash.

As soon as the creature was defeated, I remembered everything becoming dark as my head began to hurt. In the fleeting moments before I lost consciousness, I remembered the others suffering from a similar pain. When I came to, we were outside and not inside a cave. It was dark out and it was raining again, though not as hard as before. I slowly opened my eyes as I got on my hands and knees, looking around to see where I was. Everyone was getting a grip on their senses as well. It looked like we were back in the spot where we woke up last time after having been knocked out by the boulders. I noticed the path that led down to the gate with the watchtower adjacent to it. The odd thing was that the guard was nowhere to be seen and the gate was wide open. The illusion that had gripped the area was gone and it wasn't the random boulders that knocked us out initially, but the illusion itself. As I tried to get a grip on everything, Nim got to his feet and started running towards the town. We all got back up as well and followed after him.

When we got to the town, everything was still in the same spot except it was all run-down and in severe states of disrepair. Along with the decaying look of the buildings, the roads were littered with dead bodies. Upon closer inspection, we saw that they were almost mummified, having died from the apparent lack of food and proper nourishment. It seemed that while in Ryneus' dream, they hadn't eaten or drank anything and thus died of malnourishment. Nim continued to run passed everything and headed straight towards the cave.

Meanwhile, everyone else hurried to Ryneus' house and went inside. The layout was the same as we had remembered as we carefully walked down the hall. Olbar was nowhere to be found, so we continued to Ryneus' room where we figured he'd be based on the story Ryneus told us earlier in the cave. When we opened the door, Olbar's dead corpse was lying on the ground beside the bed, a knife still stuck in his then decayed body. On the bed we saw Ryneus' in his true form, his ailment having gotten worse over the years. He was barely alive as we all looked at him unsure of what to do or say. He looked like he was in so much pain that I almost wanted to just put him out of his misery right there and then; however, there was no need as when Lireal went to remove the amulet, Ryneus breathed his last breath and died. I'm not sure if he was happy to see us or not, but the last thing he saw before dying was our faces. With the last Orb secured, we went back outside to figure out what to do next.

While we decided what to do, we went about gathering the bodies to burn in a single, large funeral pyre. I couldn't handle moving the bodies, not after witnessing all the innocent dead I've seen during our journeys. Instead, I helped Nim gather wood to use for the fire while Lireal, Bill, and Moros handled moving the bodies to a central location. As I was gathering sticks and branches on my own, I felt a sudden twisting pain in my chest. It was so unbearable that I fell to my knees. That was how much it hurt. I didn't know what it was as I clutched at my heart, my breastplate getting in the way of my actual chest. I couldn't stop thinking about Ryneus and his sad story. I figured that was what was causing the pains in my chest, but it almost felt like something was trying to suppress or ignore those feelings. It was as if I wasn't supposed to feel sympathy or empathy, unable to feel feelings for the poor and unfortunate. It wasn't like I didn't want to feel, but something inside me was preventing me from acknowledging those feelings. Eventually, the pain went away as I stopped thinking about Ryneus' tragedy. I tried not to dwell on what had just happened and picked up the sticks I had gathered before returning to the others.

Once the bodies were all gathered together and the firewood accumulated, Moros and the others lit the pyre and said a few words for the deceased. I didn't stay long and went about searching all the buildings for anything useful. As I searched, I didn't find much as the town had been dead for a very long time. It seemed that they were never prosperous and were always a poor town until Ryneus' dream engulfed it all. There was nothing worth taking, so I stopped my looting and went back to the others.

Moros had cast a spell around the tavern which made it more comfortable to sleep in. The others were gathered inside the tavern and talking amongst themselves. They were wondering what the Orbs were and what would happen if they were all put near each other. When they decided to give it a shot, I flipped over a table on its side and watched from afar, not wanting to get caught up in an explosion or whatever might potentially happen. I peeked my head over the table while remaining behind cover as Lireal and Moros pulled out all four Orbs. They decided to arrange them in a simple square pattern in the middle of the floor. As one Orb was placed after the other, a loud humming sound emanated from them and grew louder with each addition of an Orb. Once the last Orb was dropped in place, a blinding light shot forth from the epicenter of the orbs and that was the last I remembered of that.

The next thing I remembered was floating outside in the rain, unable to get myself down. I looked around and saw Nim beside me underneath an overhang. I asked him what was going on and he told me he was using telekinesis to keep me floating in the rain until I cooled off. I asked him why and he said that after the blinding light wore off, I apparently tried to take the Orbs for myself. After breaking through Lireal's charm, Nim was forced to pick me up using telekinesis and levitated me outside. I reassured him I was fine and back to my old self, so he let me down and I was allowed to go back inside on my own.

When I returned to the others, everyone told me they had visions after being blinded. Their visions all had to do with one of the four Orbs and the mysterious obelisk located in the capital city. I didn't have a vision so I couldn't help them out in figuring out what it all meant. Seeing as how I was so susceptible to corruption or whatever they decided to call it, they split the duty of carrying the orbs between Lireal, Moros, and Freya. Lireal held on to the Blue Orb, Moros took the Yellow and Red Orbs to safeguard, and Freya was given the important task of holding on to the Green Orb. Now, I understood why Nim and Bill weren't given an orb being new and all, but not giving one to me? Just because of one minor incident? To be honest, I was kinda offended by that, especially after all we'd been through, but the jealousy soon wore off and I was then glad I didn't have to carry one with me. After the Orbs were handed to their guardians, we decided to get some sleep.

When I woke up the next morning, I was plagued by complaints from some of the others that they had a rough night's sleep. It appeared that those who were carrying Orbs had a bad dream related to them and the possible future of destruction they could bring. When they all told their dreams, it seemed like they were all connected somehow. Sucks for them. After hearing that, I was definitely glad I wasn't given one to hold on to; I slept like a baby, an irresponsible, not-good-enough-to-carry-an-Orb baby.

Once all the talk about dreams was over with, Moros mentioned that we go to his college to convene with his elders and see what they knew about the Orbs. It seemed like a logical plan to start with his college, it being full of very knowledgeable individuals and all. Surely there had to be someone there that had some information regarding the super magical Orbs we had in our possession. Before we left, Nim used a spell and sent Jasper, who was back on the ship, a message that said where we were going and that she should tell Cane in case we mysteriously disappeared. We couldn't be too safe after what had happened the last time we trusted Moros with teleporting us somewhere.

While Nim relayed the message, Moros found a secluded spot in one of the unoccupied rooms to start making his teleportation circle which would get us all into his college. It took some time to prepare, but he finally got it done. When it was time to leave, Moros had Lireal gather Bill and Nim and told them to put blindfolds on. Moros didn't quite fully trust them yet and didn't want to divulge his methods of getting to his college. The rest of us didn't need them since he could trust Lireal, Freya had already been there, and I was as magically capable as a banana. Once we were all gathered inside the circle, Moros teleported us to his college.

The journey was instantaneous and it took a second to get my bearing. As soon as we arrived at the college, Freya snuck off to do her own thing since she had already been there before. I had no idea where I was going, so I stuck close to Moros. Moros talked with the guards by the teleportation circles and got us all passes to enter the college. He then went to arrange a meeting with his council of leaders and left us on our own until they were ready to receive us.

Seeing as how I was in completely new territory, I decided to just find an empty bench and sit until he came back to find us. I walked around and saw an empty bench in a main corridor, so I sat down there and just watched the people pass. It reminded me a lot of the training facility back on Broken Crescent Island, except Moros’ college was a lot posher looking and more embellished when compared to the schoolhouse I was used to. I saw what I assumed to be students, teachers, and staff alike pass me by as they went to class or attended to important college matters. As I watched them, I was so glad I still wasn't a student, though, school life did have its slight allure. You barely had any responsibilities and all you had to do was focus on your studies.

As I was people watching, I was approached by one of the college's members. I wasn't sure if she was a student or a teacher, so I kept my manners up as I addressed her. She was a Tiefling and wore glasses, introducing herself as Minerva Viktor. She noticed my attire and instantly recognized me as a visitor rather than a student or faculty member. She asked who I was and took a seat beside me, curious as to my presence and business I had at the college. I didn't hold anything back and told her I was part of Moros' group and was just visiting. She didn't know Moros personally, but had heard of him at least.

As we were talking, Minerva noticed my pistol at my side and asked what it was. Seeing as how I needed to kill some time, I happily obliged and pulled it out, unloading it before showing her how it worked. She had rarely seen a firearm so close before and took it with enthusiastic curiosity, looking over every aspect of it. While she held it, I tried to explain each part and how it all worked to the best of my ability. She seemed so content and enthralled in learning all about it that it was almost refreshing to see such passion. As she was handling the pistol, I noticed something attached to her left wrist.

I asked what it was and she handed back my pistol before giving me a better view of it. I holstered my gun and gave her my full attention. She showed me her custom-made wrist crossbow and was almost as proud to show it off as I was with my pistol. It was a light-crossbow that she had fashioned to attach to her wrist for easy transportation and ease of use. It used standard or custom magical bolts and fired using a patented mechanism. The weapon was rather interesting and I asked if a firearm could potential be replaced on it. She replied that she never gave it any thought and it could maybe be done, but even if it could, she would still stick with crossbows. She preferred the stealthy aspect of a crossbow and the ease of access to ammunition than when compared to firearms. It was also easier and faster to load a crossbow rather than a flintlock. We continued to talk flintlocks and crossbows until the Council was ready to meet with us. Moros came by and notified me, so I thanked Minerva for her company and followed him to the Council chambers. I also told her that if she ever found herself on Broken Crescent Island that she look me up. I had fun talking with her and wished we could’ve spent more time together.

It took a while, but Moros managed to gather everyone up and lead us to the Council chambers. He told us to be on our best behavior and ushered us inside to meet with the brightest and most talented his college had to offer. We all went inside and stood in front of the Council as they sat behind their table. It reminded me of the Council of Elders back home, who were the Order’s highest ranking members. During the meeting, I didn't say much and just listened as Moros and the others asked the college leaders questions. As the conversation about the Orbs continued, it became apparent that the Council of near all-knowing elders were just as clueless about the Orbs as we were, perhaps even less knowledgeable than us. Seeing as how we weren't going to get much more out of them, we respectfully thanked the Council for their time and left the council chambers, much to Moros' dismay. It looked like he wanted the Council to have the answers we sought, but it just wasn't so.

After the meeting, we took some time to finish any lingering business we may have had at the college before heading back to the ship. Nim wanted to see the library, so Moros went to go give him a tour. I didn't have anything I wanted to do, so I stayed with the others who wanted to leave. Actually, I wouldn't have minded talking with Minerva more, but I didn't see her anywhere and didn't want to keep the group waiting. When everyone met back up at the teleportation circle, Moros teleported us back to the ship.

Once we were back home, we discussed what we were going to do next. We had all the Orbs but we weren't quite sure what to do with them. The others had a vision or dream about the obelisk in the capital, but we had no idea how to get close enough so we could investigate it. Someone then remembered that the Emperor was away from the capital at the moment and wasn’t present there. He was conducting a parade or ceremony north in Fasach and was probably on his way back to the capital city. Someone else then mentioned that we try and intercept him during his trip back to the capital to capture and interrogate him. At first, it seemed like an okay plan until we gave it more thought. The Emperor most definitely wasn't alone and probably had a large contingent of troops and soldiers accompanying him. Nim used some of his contacts to get more information and figured there were between 200 and 900 personnel with him. As I gave it more thought, I began to realize how difficult it could be. When we faced an Empire General before, we had a very difficult time and we didn't even defeat him, a dragon did. If the Emperor had at least one of them, we could be in trouble, and he probably had several along with an elite unit of highly-trained guards.

While we discussed that plan, Cane turned the ship and set it on an intercept course for the Emperor's entourage. We used our maps and located the most well-established route from Fasach to the capital and decided to start there. The Emperor had nothing to fear so we guessed that he'd be traveling on the largest and best paved roads for more comfortable travel. He told us it could be a few days before we caught glimpse of the Emperor's convoy, so we had some time to better prepare ourselves. I talked with Jasper and learned more about Empire troop tactics and rank identification so that I could single out officers if it came to a direct battle. Elsewhere, Bill used a spell to spy on the Emperor but was found out by an elite guard and a mage present in the tent with him. After that, Bill told us about it and figured the Emperor had some powerful guards along with him which deterred us from continuing with our current intercept plan.


	19. The Beginning of the End

After giving it further consideration, we then decided to just infiltrate the capital while the Emperor was away and try and gain access to the obelisk before he got back. Time was of the essence, so Bill had Cane land the ship so he could get access to a large tree. He was going to use his special teleportation magic to get us right into the capital via a park inside of it. Nalya decided to sit the mission out. She was going to have Cane drop her off in the north so she could find her friend we saved from hell. Before we left the ship, we bid her farewell then followed Bill to a suitable tree. Once he was ready, he used the tree to teleport us to the park within the capital in a blink of an eye.

Once we were in the capital, Jasper took the lead and led us to the nearest manhole we could find. She was wearing her guard disguise again, so she took point to keep a lookout for roaming constables. During the night, most of the guards were constables from the Silver Blades, meaning they could see through our disguises. That meant we had to be extra careful as we skulked around the barren streets. Jasper found a manhole and tried to lift it but was having trouble. I went over to her and helped her lift it up, opening the way down into the sewers.

Jasper jumped down followed by the rest of the party and me. I went last and closed the manhole cover behind me. When we were all down in the sewers, Jasper continued to lead the way to the Thieves Guild where we hoped to get some help regarding entry into the obelisk. We walked through the stinking, disgusting sewers and came upon a heavy locked door. Jasper walked up to it and knocked, talking with the door guard and gaining entry for us all.

When we made our way inside, we were then presented with the capital’s Thieves Guild hideout. Jasper continued to lead the way and guided us through the stronghold, eventually introducing us to the Guild Master which was a person named Escobar. He was a rather flamboyant individual who looked more like a salsa dancer rather than a master thief, but then again, thieves were supposed to look inconspicuous. As we approached him, he asked us what we needed of him and his guild. Nim then explained that we needed help scouting the base of the obelisk and gaining access to the area. While Nim was explaining our mission, Escobar tried flirting with Freya and Lireal to no avail.

After talking, Escobar led us back into his chambers to meet a good friend of his. She was a tall human female and her name was Rafaela, or more commonly referred to as “The Oracle”. She recognized me and the other original members of the group, calling us by our first name. Rafaela then told us she was a fortune teller or something along those lines and used a crystal ball to find out information. She sat down and peered into her crystal ball, finding out that the Empire was bolstering their defenses around the capital and that they were on high alert. Knowing that, the party and Escobar talked about how they could help each other out. After coming to an agreement, he escorted us out of his chambers after telling us a thieves’ cant phrase that would guarantee cooperation with the other Thieves Guild members. The phrase went something like “The snail throws-up lady bugs” or something akin to that. I don’t know. I’m wasn’t a thief and didn’t care for all the underhandedness and stuff.

Once we were escorted out, we looked around and found the sleeping area which had a few empty cots still left. We decided to stay at the Thieves Guild for the night and not risk heading to another safehouse or inn. There were too many guards patrolling the streets which made it too risky to travel. Freya and I thought about taking over Escobar’s bed, but it was too dicey and I didn’t feel like getting violated by that guy while I slept. So instead, I found an empty cot and went to sleep.

In the morning, we all waited around the Thieves Guild until Escobar was ready to move. We gathered up some food and had breakfast together before wandering around on our own. When he was finally ready to go, Escobar led us back into the sewer and guided us to the section below the central palace. There were several ladders we had to climb up to get there, so Freya had to leave Rollo behind since none of us could carry him up. Before we could enter the area beneath the palace, we had to get passed a wall of iron bars. Escobar gave us some files and we started to grind our way in. While we were working, Escobar told us the Empire had his younger sister and he needed our help to get her back. Once there was a large enough hole, we made our way through and infiltrated the palace through the cellar.

The palace was very clean and lavishly decorated. It was the most opulent place I had ever been in. As we roamed the halls of the palace, Escobar led us towards the dungeon where he hoped his sister was being kept and still alive. When we finally found our way down there, we saw lots of torture tools and dead bodies scattered around the room. Also in the room, we saw only a single Empire guard, the executioner, and he was piling bodies in preparation to be thrown into the furnace for cremation. We had a spell that made us extra sneaky, so the party didn’t bother with him and hid until we decided on what to do next. While they were deciding on what to do with the executioner, Escobar saw the jail cells ahead and started heading towards it with complete disregard for his surroundings. As he ventured off on his own passed the executioner, the others went after him to make sure he didn’t get into any trouble. I stayed at the entrance to the dungeon to keep an eye on the executioner, just in case he spotted the others and moved to engage them.

Shortly after Escobar left, he and the others came sneaking back over to me, telling me Nim had a plan cooked up. They didn’t find Escobar’s sister in the cells, so Nim was going to disguise himself as a guard and see what the executioner knew. I remained out of sight as I watched Nim talk with the executioner. After a bit of talking, Escobar suddenly lost his nerve and got out from cover, brandishing his knife as he walked over to the executioner. It turned out that his sister had been dead for more than a year. Nim had positioned himself so that the executioner was facing him and had his back to the incoming Escobar.

As soon as Escobar plunged his knife into the executioner, I knew it was game time. I drew my sword and immediately came to his aid, slashing away at the surprised enemy. I easily got the better of him and cut him down before he could cause us anymore trouble. Once he was dead, we hauled his body up and tossed him into the furnace like he had done to so many poor victims. It took a few more moments, but Escobar finally calmed down and told us he would continue to help us any way he could. We told him to take us to the obelisk and he obliged without too much persuading.

Escobar led us through the palace halls again and outside to the center courtyard. In the middle of the area, the obelisk stood which was around two miles away by the others’ estimate. We utilized the dark of night and snuck our way through the vast courtyard towards the large, floating structure. As we got closer, the obelisk seemed to get near infinitely taller. Every time I looked up, it was that much harder to see the top. When we got to the base of the obelisk, we saw a doorway built into a structure that matched the architecture of the surrounding palace, but not the obelisk itself. I found it odd at the time but didn’t think too much about it. There were two guards guarding the doorway leading inside the obelisk, so we were stuck for the moment.

While the party talked about a way to get by, Freya and Lireal came up with a distraction plan. Once we were ready, Freya fired an arrow off to the side of the guards that had alchemist fire on the end of it. It hit a lantern and caused a fire to spread, though, Lireal had cast a spell that shrouded it in a magical darkness. She kept the spell up to allow the flames to spread before dispelling it. The guards in front of the door then saw it and rushed to put it out before it got any worse. Once the guards were gone, we hurried to get through the door before they returned or noticed us. Freya tried to stealthily crawl there on her stomach but we had no time for such shenanigans. We all grabbed her by an arm or leg and carried her the rest of the way. We burst through the door and quickly shut it behind us.

There was nothing inside except for a spiral staircase leading downward to a section below the obelisk. With nowhere else to go, we decided to go down the steps to see where it went. We went down several flights of stairs and eventually ended up in an open room. When we stepped onto the floor, we noticed an area directly ahead of us that had four spherical slots. We figured those were where the orbs went and began walking towards it. I decided to hang back a bit as I had no idea what would happen if the others decided to put the orbs in place. Lireal, Moros, and Bill approached the altar while Freya wandered off. Escobar and Jasper were behind me while Nim went back up the stairs to lay down some traps or something in case guards came from behind us.

As the three up front stepped towards the panel with the orb slots, Moros cast a spell to detect if any magic was coming from it or anywhere else around the room. As he looked around, he suddenly grew quiet and tensed up. I stopped moving as I sensed that something must’ve been wrong. Suddenly, I found myself trapped in an invisible barrier as eight or so individuals revealed themselves around the room. They were wearing Empire uniforms and appeared to have been invisible, watching us until it was the right time to strike. It almost seemed like they were waiting for us based on their coordination and timing. As the others tried to dispel the barriers around them, more Empire mages revealed themselves as they erected new ones in their place. I began to worry as I tried to find a way out of the barrier, but it was no use. I was completely surrounded and nothing seemed to damage it. Even the others were having a hard time trying to free themselves but to no avail.

While were trying in vain to free ourselves from the pesky barriers, another individual appeared between the orb panel and the three up in front of me. He looked different from the rest, wearing regal garb and resonating a certain threatening aura about him. He looked around the room and smiled, introducing himself simply as Eryarus. Seeing as how we were all neutralized, he began walking around each one of us, saying our names aloud with smug satisfaction, as if he had known us for a long time. Moros Harkon. Freya Blackthorn. The names went on as he named us all before returning to his spot in front of the orb panel.

Seeing victory in sight, Eryarus began to tell us his overarching plan and who he really was. He told us that he worked for a certain group of gods and acted as their hand to enact their will. As such, he was tasked with gathering the Orbs to bring about a New World Order and offered us a spot in it if we only handed over the Orbs. Of course, we said no but that wouldn’t be the first or last time he tried to make us a raw deal. After mentioning all that, he revealed himself to be the mysterious “E” we had been searching for all this time, the same entity that had imprisoned us at the arena in the beginning. We had always thought it stood for “Empire” but I guess we were wrong. He then went on to explain a vision he had about all of us and saw us as a threat to his plan. As a result, he arranged for all of us to be kidnapped and killed in the arena where we all first met. Seeing an oversight, I asked him why he kidnapped Roan and Torinn if they weren’t going to end up being a nuisance in the end, to which he replied that fate was never absolutely certain, or something like that. Someone then asked him who the Emperor was, the one that was seen publicly and that everyone knew. Eryarus chuckled and said that he was just a political puppet controlled by him, the one and true Emperor.

After hearing everything Eryarus had to say, Moros used his cloak and vanished into the Aetherial plane. At first, I was shocked that he’d just abandon us, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt and figured he was coming up with a plan to save us, or so I hoped. Shortly after he disappeared, he came back and cast a spell, erecting a cage around himself, Lireal, Bill, and Eryarus which negated their invisible barriers but also trapped them inside with the god-emperor. I figured they were going to try and take him out so the other Empire mages would be forced to surrender. A gutsy plan, but I believed in them. I was about to cheer them on until Eryarus chuckled, saying that he wasn’t trapped in there with them but instead they were trapped in there with him.


	20. Time to Say Goodbye

And so, it was the beginning of end. With a wave of his hand, the invisible barriers surrounding myself, Freya, Jasper, and Escobar were gone as Eryarus motioned for his subordinates to attack. I had been waiting so long for this as I drew my sword, eager to cut down as many of them as I could, but as I was halfway to unsheathing my blade, my body froze as I found myself unable to move. I tried with all my might but couldn’t even manage to talk. I glanced over to Freya who was to my left and in front of me. She too seemed to be paralyzed. The damn mages must’ve gotten each of us with a spell once the barriers were down. I couldn’t see Jasper or Escobar, but I assumed they were caught up in a similar spell as well. Inside the cage Moros erected earlier, he, Lireal, and Bill continued to stare Eryarus down as they figured out what to do. Whatever plan of action they chose to do, I just hoped they chose quickly because at that point, those of us on the outside weren’t going to last very long.

I tried to remain calm as I remained frozen in place, completely vulnerable to the enemies surrounding us. I had complete trust in my team and knew they’d pull through, but then… it all began to come apart at the seams. As I looked back towards Freya who was still paralyzed, the Empire mages closest to her began to advance. I looked on in horror as they began to torture her with spells one right after another. Even though she couldn’t speak or cry out, I could tell the pain must’ve been immense. As her paralysis finally wore off, the screams of agony and anguish filled my ears and resonated to my very core. I was sickened with myself for not being able to help as all I could do was watch Freya writhing on the ground, her attackers unrelenting in their strikes. Soon enough, I was overcome with dread as I saw Freya lay motionless and completely silent on the ground in front of them, unsure if she was unconscious or…worse. One of the mages grabbed her by the wrist and began to drag her away until one second, she was there and then the next, she was gone. The mage had teleported himself and her away to somewhere unknown.

Once she was gone, I looked to the others in the cage and saw that they weren’t fairing any better. Lireal was down on the ground, having been knocked out by Eryarus while Moros and Bill tried to pull her away to safety. I tried to move again, but I was still under someone’s spell and couldn’t budge. Suddenly, flashes of light flickered out the corner of my eye to the right and got my attention. I looked to see the other mages preparing to unleash spells at me and the others who were still paralyzed.

I was a sitting duck, and once the mages were ready, they unleashed a volley of fireballs that ravaged the three of us. The heat and fire didn’t bother me, but the force of the impacts did. One right after the other, I couldn’t help but remain in place as the raw power and energy from the blasts battered my defenseless body. As the barrage finally stopped, the paralysis wore off as I could feel my body begin to wobble. My sword slid back into its scabbard as I collapsed to my knees before falling face first onto the floor. Even with the paralysis spell gone, I could barely get my body to move as the injuries sustained from the fireballs were too great. I tilted my head and looked back to see Jasper face-first on the ground, lying completely still and looking pretty beat up as well. I continued to struggle with remaining conscious as I tried to see what was happening in front of me, but the approaching horde of Empire mages obscured my view as I finally blacked out.

As I slipped in and out of consciousness several times, I began to see dreams or visions of things I couldn’t explain. I kept seeing familiar faces from various points throughout our journey in startling detail. First, I saw Piff enjoying a normal day at her college, laughing and walking with the many friends she had made there. Then I saw Torinn in Cronshaw, sitting in his mayor’s office surrounded by several different trophies and magical items. I continued to regain consciousness from time to time only to be suddenly knocked out again. I then saw Freya’s mother and father happily enjoying lunch together back in their home in Dawsburry before briefly seeing Rollo looking worried as he continued to wait for us back in the sewer. Kasumi was next as I watched her helping the poor of Dwarforge followed by Minerva conducting some research at Moros’ college. Afterwards, I saw Nalya still on the hunt for her friend before switching to a vision where I was watching my friend, Kia, studying something I sent her with a smile as she sat in my room back home. Then there was a vision of Cane and the rest of the crew on the ship, speeding towards us with a shared determination followed by a scene of Mark as a dragon flying through the clouds ahead of them.

The last vision or dream I had was the oddest one as I didn’t recognize the individuals in it. The surroundings were blurry and I couldn’t recognize any of it, but the individual was strikingly clear. She had long, black hair, purple eyes, and a fair complexion. In the vision, I was there alongside her, which was the only vision I had where I saw myself. We were happy and we clearly knew each other. Next, it switched to us looking older and caring for two children. The girl had white skin with elbow-length dark, red hair while the boy had light-tan skin with styled short, black hair with a hint of red. Before I could take it all in, I regained consciousness once more as I found myself high up with a view of the entire capital city.

I was no longer below the obelisk but instead at the very top. Eryarus was there and he had all four of the Orbs along with a fifth one which was black. My body still ached and it hurt to breath but I managed to keep awake at least. The others were there alongside me all seemingly still alive. The Empire mages were behind us, guarding us while Eryarus gave us the option of choosing a color. Since he couldn’t get a straight answer out of us, he went with the color green.

As soon as he touched the Green Orb, I felt sickening feeling in my gut as reality finally set in. Everyone we knew… was going to die. Everyone who ever loved us, everyone we ever loved, and all the love we had yet to experience. Gone. I couldn’t help but tear up as I watched the world began to tear itself asunder. We… had failed. I… had failed. And in the end, evil prevailed.

As I remained on my knees, battered, bruised, and on death’s door, I glanced to my left then to my right, seeing familiar faces. Faces that belonged to people I had grown to cherish and respect. People who had been with me since we first came together as a group in the arena, who stuck with me through everything we faced no matter how bad it got. At that moment, as the world crumbled around us, I didn’t dwell on those I had known from back home or the many people we encountered along our journey. No. Instead, during my final moments, I just thought about the few individuals who were with me until the very end. My companions, my friends, my… family.


	21. Ascension

I thought I was dead, but then again, I should’ve known better as I had already died once before. This wasn’t death. This was something else entirely. After coming to my senses, I looked around and found myself in an unknown area, completely different from the top of the obelisk where I was just moments ago. I was laying on a bed of dead leaves and noticed there was barely any color in my surroundings. It was almost grayscale in appearance as my eyes continued to focus. Looking around, I began seeing the other members of the group one by one. By my count, they all seemed to be there and were all slowly beginning to move. I tried to call out, but my throat was sore as I coughed before being able to talk. Lireal was already up and about, making “snow angels” in the leaves. Passed her, there was a bright shining light in the distance that seemed to lead out of the forest we were in.

As we were all trying to regain our composure, we heard terrifying shrieks coming from the distance. We looked deeper into the forest that surrounded us as more shrieks were heard coming from that direction. Whatever was causing those noises, it sounded like it was getting closer and we surely didn’t want to be around when they got to us. I glanced around my immediate surroundings and saw Jasper sitting on the ground, eating a leaf. She seemed to be fine so I looked to the next closest person who was Escobar. He was still lying on the ground and barely moving. I quickly hurried to his side and helped him up, telling him that we needed to move. We then heard a whistle being blown from the direction of the blinding light. Comparing that to the horrible shrieks in the other direction, we figured the whistle was probably going to be a lot less threatening. After getting Escobar moving, I went over to Jasper and got her on her feet, pushing her in the direction of the light and telling her to get her ass moving.

One after another, we all started running for the light as the horrid screaming behind us got louder. We continued to run as we broke out of the forest and completely into the light, seeing a large wall in front of us with a single large gate. The top of the wall was lined with archers and they seemed to be pointing their bows in our direction, but not necessarily at us directly. As we came out into the open, the people on the walls saw us and shouted to get to the gate. We hurried and got passed the gate before they shut it behind us.

Once we were inside, we saw a normal-looking town inhabited mostly by humans. Our surroundings were very dim and somber, but at the time I really didn’t notice much. Someone then approached us and led us into a nearby inn so we could talk and rest. Having no other choice, we followed them and entered the building. I was so out of it then that I didn’t bother asking any questions until we were finally somewhere resembling a safe sanctuary. When we were inside, everyone gathered together in front of the person who led us there as other people approached us with platters full of drinks. I didn’t bother taking a drink just yet as several questions continued to pop into my mind. As everything began to calm down, I turned to the person who led us there and asked her what was going on.

The person introduced herself as Theia, a human with dark skin and hints of orc in her appearance. She told us that another Cycle must’ve occurred if we happened to appear suddenly from the forest. As she sat us all down at a table, she explained that we were in a small outpost consisting of survivors like us, but from different time periods when the Cycle also occurred. I asked what she meant and she continued to explain everything she knew to us. Everyone that was in the immediate vicinity of the Orbs when the Cycle came to fruition was sent to the place where we were currently at. In short, she said it was a sort of Purgatory where those heroes who failed to stop the activation of the Orbs resided. They had built an outpost to live out the remainder of their existence while constantly fighting off the horrors that lurked in the surrounding forest. She said that the creatures they fought couldn’t be killed but instead just incapacitated. I sure hope she wasn’t correct about that. Fighting against things that couldn’t die didn’t sound too fun, but we’d find out for ourselves if and when we fought them.

After we talked with her and tried to comprehend everything she told us, we each got a room at the inn and went to sleep. I still had lots I wanted to ask, but I was too tired to find the will to get answers. My head was swirling with emotions as I tried not to think about what occurred in the Orb room and up on the obelisk. I still wasn’t sure what had happened but I supposed we’d figure it out when we woke up. Despite having my own room and a bed to sleep on, I can remember not being able to get much rest.

Eventually, I found myself waking up in what I assumed was the morning. I really couldn’t tell since there was no day and night cycle where we were. The sky was always lit and a gloomy red color. I got out of bed and collected my things before making my way to the common area to meet up with the others. Theia was there as well, so I decided to poke her brain more about things that were still bugging me. While I waited for the others, I asked her a few things to pass the time. I asked her if there were any other settlements like this around and she replied no. This was the only place they knew of that had survivors living in it, well, this and possible the ominous-looking castle that was far off in the distance. They didn’t know much about the castle other than the fact that those who ventured there never returned. I asked if she had a map of the surrounding area, but again, she said no. The forest shifted around so much that any attempt to document the area was made obsolete within a short time span.

As we talked, the others came by one after another. While they continued to wake up and pile in, I talked more with Theia. I asked her what happened if we were to die and she said she wasn’t sure. She said no one had died of natural causes, whether old age or disease. They had also never witnessed a death to violence, so she wasn’t completely sure what would happen. I then asked her who the most experienced magic user was in town, thinking maybe he could help us out. She said there was a mage named Niles who patrolled the perimeter wall from time to time.

While we were talking, Nim left to go inspect the defenses on the wall while Moros went to go find more information and observe the mysterious castle. I stayed at the inn and chatted a bit more with Theia to get a better picture of our surroundings. During our talk, I noticed that I hadn’t been feeling hungry or thirsty since we first awoke in the forest. I hadn’t eaten or drunk anything in quite a while actually.

Later in the day, we all met back up in the inn and decided on our next move. We planned to brave the forest and investigate the castle, but before we did, we wanted to see what things we could possibly be encountering outside the walls. The others found out that the settlement was attacked every five to six hours by a wave of the screaming creatures. We decided to wait for the next attack to help the defenders and possibly kill a few of the creatures for them if we could.

When the alarm sounded, we all left the inn and hurried to take up position on the perimeter wall. The outpost’s security detail was already there making preparations for the upcoming attack. We joined them on the wall and looked out towards the forest, just in time to see a horde of ghastly-looking creatures come out from the tree line. Once they were out in the open, the guards on the wall attacked with their bows, crossbows, magic, and even a few firearms. I took out my pistol and opened fire as well since I didn’t have my rifle with me. I had left it on the ship before leaving for the capital so it was forever lost to me.

After a fiery battle, we ended up repelling the attack and dispatched the fifteen or so creatures that came at the wall. There were no remains to inspect as the creatures disintegrated into nothing but dust and particles. The party and I talked with the guard-in-charge and gave him some pointers on how to improve their defenses. While we were talking, the others guards went to the inn to celebrate their decisive victory. It’s almost like they hadn’t won a battle until we arrived. I was surprised at how they had survived for so long.

One of the guards, however, stayed behind to talk to me about my firearms. It seemed that the guns I had were very prevalent during his time period, so we talked about our respective eras as we walked back to the inn. During our talk, I asked him about potential ways to make my regular ammunition more potent. I still had some of the holy water vials from our trip to hell, so I was wondering if dipping the ball bearings in the water would help against the enemies here. He had no idea but he suggested having the ammunition and my weapons blessed by a priest or something. There was an acolyte in town that could possibly do that for me and the guard said he’d probably be at the inn with the others celebrating. Before we left the gate, he gave me something to help me in case my gun ever jammed. It was a graphite spider looking thing and he said that if there was ever a jam, just put the thing down the barrel and it would fix the problem.


	22. The Labyrinth

As I was about to head to the inn, the others were already itching to leave so I had to forego the blessings to head out with them. We left the outpost still freshly warmed up from the battle and began our journey towards the castle. I wasn’t too keen on walking all the way there, so fortunately the others decided to use some magic to help shorten the travel time. Moros summoned a phantom stead which looked like a white unicorn with a rainbow tail. I rode with him while the others found their own mode of transportation. Freya used her magical obsidian fly to ride and Bill transformed into a giant warhorse. Lireal summoned a large hyena for Nim to ride then summoned a magical stead for herself and Jasper. Once everyone had a means of traveling, we continued on and kept it up for about a day. Apparently, we didn’t need to sleep, eat, or drink in the realm we were in, so we were able to keep up a constant pace. Nothing too exciting happened during our travel other than a few trees trying to prevent us from proceeding, but we expertly maneuvered around them.

Eventually, we arrived at what we assumed was the castle as we came upon an absurdly large superstructure. The thing went on for as far as the eye could see, so Bill turned us all into gaseous clouds to see if we could just fly over it. As we ascended upwards in our new form, we hit an invisible anti-magic field which prevented us from continuing over it.

Seeing as that was a bust, we deiced to just make our way to the front gate in our cloud form which we all thought was an obvious trap. There was no way the front entrance and seemingly only way inside wasn’t guarded or trapped. When we got there, we reverted back to our normal selves as we were surprisingly greeted by an unguarded door. Even though everything around us seemed suspicious, Moros approached the door and pulled it open.

Inside, there was nothing but a painted mural on the back wall with a foreign inscription written on it. I couldn’t understand the language but Jasper and Nim seemed to. We all went inside to get a better look at the mural and once we were all in, the door behind us closed shut. When we all turned around to look at the door, it wasn’t there and instead replaced by a solid wall. It seemed as if we were trapped so we diverted our attention back to the wall with the mural on it. Nim said it was a riddle and it went something like: “The path you seek is behind you.”. I was completely stumped but the others figured it out eventually like they always did. I’m glad I had some smart ones in my group because I certainly wouldn’t have been able to figure it out.

Thinking we had it solved, we all lined up beside each other and kept our eyes on the mural in front of us. When we were all in position, we started walking backwards, and as we did, the mural in front of us began to get further away from us. Soon enough, we hit something solid which turned out to be another wall but this one had a door in it. We all turned around and saw a normal enough looking door with an odd symbol on it. Lireal touched the door first and the symbol appeared on her arm as some sort of tattoo. It didn’t seem to be harmful in any way, so the rest of us touched the door and received the mark before opening it.

After getting passed the mural room, we entered another room but this one had three doors, one to our left, to the front, and to our right. We decided to take the left door and went on through. Moros used a fire spell to mark the walls in the places we’d been so we didn’t get lost, or at least, so we knew if we’d been there or not. We continued on with Freya and Lireal leading the way, using their combined elven navigational skills to get us through what appeared to be a labyrinth.

Traveling through the maze, we came upon a large, metal bulwark door. It was sealed tight, but Freya and Lireal managed to open it up together. As they did, a loud hissing sound was heard as the doors slowly opened. Inside the room was nothing except for a door on the other side and a large crater in the middle of the floor. The room was rather suspicious, so Nim used a spell to send in an invisible servant to try and trigger a trap, but the spell failed as it passed through the doorway. Moros tried to fire a fire bolt into the room, but it dissipated upon reaching the entrance. I took out a ball bearing and flicked it inside. It made it passed the doorway but all it did was harmlessly roll around the floor. Lireal decided to brave the unknown and went inside the room, hugging the walls as she avoided the ominous depression in the center. Nothing seemed to happen as she reached the other side in one piece. She then tried to open the door but it wouldn’t budge. The rest of us piled in while I closed the door behind us since I was the last to enter. Unfortunately, once I did, the ceiling began to close in on us. My bad.

Everyone began to panic as the ceiling continued to make the room smaller and smaller. The room had an anti-magic field of some sort, so the others couldn’t use spells to try and help us out. We tried to pull open the door but it still wouldn’t move. I told Jasper to try and use her glaive as a stopper, but the ceiling was too powerful and it began to bend her weapon. She quickly withdrew it before the damage made her weapon completely useless. Not before long, we had to resort to getting on our knees as the space above us began to decrease by the second. As we were about to get crushed, we noticed another odd symbol on the ceiling like the one we found on the mural room door. We all reached out and touched it, and just as we were within moments of being squished, the ceiling began to reverse itself as it began moving back up. At the same time, the door we tried to open unlocked as more hissing was heard from around the doorframe. Seeing as we had a moment to breathe, we all noticed a second symbol on our arm next to the first. Once we had enough room to stand, we exited the room and continued on. I was super relived that we made it out all right. If we all died just because I closed the door, I was going to be furious. How was I going to be furious if I was dead, you might ask? Well, I’d find a way.

After making it passed the trapped room, Lireal and Freya took their position up front and continued to lead the way. As we were walking, we happened to notice a blue glow growing behind us. It seemed some will-o’-wisps were following us in a line, or at least, they were similar to will-o’-wisps. They didn’t seem to be hostile and all they did was emit a blue glow and jingle from time to time. They wouldn’t go away so we didn’t pay them too much attention as we continued forth. Eventually, we hit a point in the maze where we needed a break, so we took a long rest before continuing on. I didn’t know what to do with the time, so I took a nap despite not feeling sleepy in the slightest. I somehow managed to get some sleep before I was woken up by the others as we continued on with our journey.

When we were all ready, we continued on and reached another strange door. It seemed to be made out of a mirror and the frame was decorated lavishly with gold. We all approached the mirror and could see our reflections clearly in it. Lireal saw a doorknob and tried to reach for it, but her reflection mimicked her movements and prevented her from getting hold of it. She tried again but to no avail. Frustrated, she and Freya tried to figure the mirror out so we could continue on but came up short. Suddenly, Lireal began to talk to herself but was really talking to the reflection. She kindly asked the reflection to move out of the way which surprisingly, the reflection did. It moved on its own and even replied to her as she spoke to it. Once the reflection was out of the way, Lireal stepped into the mirror and was on the other side, replacing her reflection as she motioned for us to follow her. We all then stepped up and asked our reflections to get out of the way. When it was my turn, I simply told my reflection to just step aside to which she just grimaced at me while folding her arms over her chest. I then tried again but added “please” at the end and that seemed to do the trick. Once everyone was through, we continued on. Like I was going to take any guff from myself. Oh please.

We walked for quite a while through the maze’s many corridors until we reached a locked door. After getting through it, we entered an empty room with a riddle written on the back wall in the same foreign language as before. Nim read it out loud for us and it said something like: “…Use the key to paint me red. But beware of that you spurn, for what is taken shall be returned.” Again, I was stumped so I let the others ponder what it meant. While we stood there thinking what it meant, Nim just walked up to the wall and bashed his head against it. I looked at him in disbelief as blood began to seep from the gash on his forehead. Before I could ask if he was okay, something started to come out of the wall. It was blood red and as more of the figure came out of the wall, it began to take the shape of Nim.

The figure finally came completely out of the wall as we watched curiously until it turned into a perfect copy of Nim. It just stood there, looking at Nim without doing anything hostile at the moment. I can’t remember who shot first, but we ended up attacking the clone. Freya shot a couple arrows into him while the others fired off a spell or two at him as well. Eventually, Bill got a hold of the clone and managed to push him back into the wall where it came from. Once the clone was gone, Nim immediately felt all the damage the others did to the clone. As he was reeling from that, the wall disappeared and a door appeared with another symbol on it. Once it was safe, we helped patch up Nim’s wounds the best we could, and by we, I mean the others. I didn’t hit the clone so I didn’t injure Nim. Wasn’t my doing so I just kept watch for any more threats.

Once we were ready, we touched the door and opened it up, revealing another room and receiving a third symbol on our arm. We all went in as just as we did, the door closed and locked behind us. Great. Maybe we should just make sure the door stays open for once. There was a bright, blue light we all saw before suddenly going unconscious. When I came to, I was in a different position than I last remembered. I then realized something was a bit off. I took a moment to look around then saw my body on the ground nearby. It was a bit weird to see myself there so I looked down and noticed that I was not who I thought I was, meaning I was in someone else’s body. By the looks of it, I seemed to have taken over Bill’s body. I looked myself over and saw nearly everyone else doing the same. It appeared they all had switched bodies with one another and I happened to get stuck with Bill. Personally, I would have liked to be switched with Freya or Jasper, but oh well. While we were getting a feel for our new bodies and wondering how to return back to normal, we were engaged by a group of enemies.

At first, it was a rough fight for me as I didn’t know how to exactly harness Bill’s power. I found Bill who was inside my body and asked him what to do. He gave me a few quick pointers before the enemies closed in on us. I prepared myself for the fight but before I could strike at the enemy, I suddenly found myself back in my own body as did everyone else. It was quite fortunate for me as I felt like I wouldn’t had been able to do much while in Bill’s body. Finding myself back in a familiar body, I was able to let loose and engage the enemy how I knew best. Eventually, we all succeeded in defeating the enemy then secured the arena-like setting we were in. Seeing as how a few of us were pretty beat up, we continued on to try and find a safe place to rest.

After looking around, we opened the door leading forward and saw a completely different environment than the rest of the labyrinth we’d seen so far. We all went through the door then it closed behind us on its own like the last one we went through. There were trees all around that produced an earthly, natural scent. There were fungi scattered about along with other natural flora. The area didn’t seem to be dangerous, so we looked around and began to set up camp to rest. Bill inspected the mushrooms while Moros prepared a magical sanctuary for us to rest in. Once the safe space was set up, we all took a break before continuing on.

Once some of us got some sleep -even though we didn’t need it- we packed up and continued forth through the maze. Lireal and Freya led continued to lead the way and brought us to a large wooded area with trees as far as the eye could see. Just as we started walking through the area, the others spotted bear traps lying all over the place. Someone decided to trip one for fun and triggered a trap on purpose. Once they did, the trap clamped shut then flew off in the distance towards the direction we were walking in. It was an odd sight so I made sure to watch my step as I followed the others. It seemed like forever since we entered the woods and we just kept walking and walking. Eventually, the others noticed that we were walking in a circle and stopped to investigate our surroundings closer. Moros discovered that the area we were in was tied to an illusion caused by illusion magic. While I was looking around, Nim and Lireal happened to disappear into thin air. After noticing they were gone, the rest of us looked around the area where they were last seen to figure out where they went. Suddenly, I was pulled into a strange looking tree and came out into a room with a similar aesthetic to that of the labyrinth. It seemed Nim and Lireal had found the way out of the illusion and had broken out into the real room that we were in, which wasn't a wooded forest after all.

Having successfully gotten out of the illusion, we looked ahead and saw nothing but a long hallway. We were all worn out, so we took the chance to take a rest while it was still relatively safe. Afterwards, we continued on further into the maze with the hopes of finding who knew what ahead. Later on, we heard the sounds of a struggle or fight happening ahead. It sounded like someone was fighting an animal or creature. We were stuck at a fork in the path, so we stopped to figure out our next move. The person fighting could have been part of the survivor outpost, so Moros sneakily went to investigate. When he got back, he told us that two half-orcs were fighting a wolf-sized creature, though, neither of them seemed to look like they were from the outpost. Nim then tried to send them a message using a spell asking if they were from the outpost or knew of it. The response lacked any evidence that they were, so we went down another path and avoided the potential confrontation.

After bypassing the half-orcs, we came to a fork with three potential paths ahead of us. One of the paths had a square drawn in chalk on the wall; another path had many different symbols on one of its walls with bloody and muddy footprints leading down it; and the last hallway had nothing on its walls or the floor. We stopped to investigate the many markings and Bill discerned that the square meant that there was a dead end ahead. What made him think that, I wasn't sure, but I had nothing to go on to doubt him. After thinking it through, we chose to go down the path with the bloody and muddy footprints. Yeah. Blood and mud never meant anything bad, right?

We walked for what seemed like a couple miles before reaching a normal-looking door with a bloody handprint on the doorknob. Seeing as how the handprint gave off an ominous vibe, Nim used a spell to summon an invisible servant to turn the knob for us and open the door. The door was unlocked and inside the room, there were broken metal pipes everywhere. The room was well lit and across it was another door. Upon further inspection, we saw a body within the room as well. After testing the room for traps, Lireal went in followed by everyone else except Nim, who stood just outside the doorway leading into the room just in case. I stayed relatively close to the door as well and didn't venture too far into the room. I watched as Lireal and Moros went over to investigate the body while the others looked around. The body had greenish skin and a fauxhawk, a description that matched one of the survivors from the outpost that Theia wanted us to look out for. He had numerous puncture wounds and was long dead.

As they rolled the body over for further inspection, they revealed a rune on the ground. It was a Glyph of Mending, and as soon as it was revealed, the room began to fix itself. The broken pipes started to reconnect themselves as the room quickly filled with pipes that spanned the entire length of it. They zigzagged all over and some of the party were impaled by them after they were repaired. Since I was further back, I had a little time to react and managed not to get impaled, though some of the pipes did graze and scratch me somewhat. Lireal and Moros teleported themselves to the door on the opposite side of the room and tried to figure out how to get everyone across. Lireal was able to break the pipes, so seeing as she was able to, I decided to just use brute force to get across. I used what little room I had and began breaking the pipes one by one until I was on the other side with them. Freya and Jasper had polymorphed into snakes and slithered their way through the pipes to get across the room.

The door that we assumed led onwards was locked, so Nim used Mage Hand to try and pick the lock using his lock-picking tools. He eventually managed to pick the lock but the door wouldn't budge. Disappointed, he told us to leave the room while he tried to figure it out. We did as he requested and went back across the room to the door we came in through, which was still open thankfully. After some unsuccessful attempts at finding out what was going on, Jasper got fed up and started hacking at the locked door with her glaive. Eventually, she managed to break off enough of the door for us to realize that it was a false door and didn't lead anywhere. We were all annoyed at that so we decided to backtrack. Before we left, Nim used his portable hole thing to dump the body we found inside, just in case we ever made it back to the outpost. As he did, he noticed that the body had the same strange symbols on his arm that we did.

Once we were back at the fork in the path, we tried going down the path with no markings. We walked down a corridor then saw an Elvish inscription on one of the sides. The others said the inscription was just one word: Bravery. As we stood there, pondering what it meant, we began to hear squishy wet sounds coming from up ahead. We continued on and reached a pool of black liquid that stretched on for quite a while. It was as wide as the corridor and the liquid smelled rancid. It appeared to be rather thick from where we were standing. Curious, Lireal went up to the pool and touched the liquid. Just as she did, tentacles sprouted forth from the pool but didn't appear to be attacking us just yet.

Seeing as how tentacles in the past meant a bad time, the others immediately began attacking them without discretion. Moros put up a fire wall in front of us as a barrier to prevent the tentacles from getting to us. It also meant that our line-of-sight was obscured so I ended up not attacking along with Jasper. She and I just stood off to the side and watched as the others shot off arrows and spells into the depths passed the giant wall of fire. The tentacles that the others defeated were quickly replaced by more, so they thought of a plan to get by while the fire wall was still active. Once the fire wall dissipated, Bill turned us into clouds and we zipped on by, bypassing the need to fight the tentacles and traverse through the icky pool. At the end of the pool, we found a door except there was no platform to stand on and it was right above the black liquid. We hovered around while we decided what to do until Nim reverted back to normal and caught the door just right, opening it up and letting us inside without falling into the pool.

Having gotten passed the tentacle pool, we all changed back to normal and looked around. There was nothing around us except for a fancy mirror on the wall with ornate gold trim around it. At first, we thought it was the same trick as the last elaborate mirror we came across, but when we all stood in front of it, Freya's reflection was the only one visible. We all looked at the reflection and it wasn't an exact replica of Freya's image like a mirror should show. Instead, her reflection had a menacing grin on her face and an evil demeanor about her.

Suddenly, the reflection asked Freya, and the rest of us by proxy, if we wanted to play a game. Seeing as we had no other choice if we wanted to continue on, we obliged but kept our guard up. The game was simple. The reflection was going to describe three things and we had to guess what they were. I hated riddles and puzzles, as you could have guessed by now, so I wasn't looking forward to this. The party prepared themselves as the reflection gave us the first description: What crossed a river but never moves? I, like most of the others, took a moment to think it over, but Nim knew the answer straight away. He replied with "a bridge" which turned out was the correct answer. The reflection was visibly angry that we got it right but shrugged it off, saying that the first one was an easy one. She then gave us the second description: What lives in the sky and weeps on the earth? Even I had a feeling I knew this, but before any of us could answer, Nim once again knew it and spoke up. He replied with "clouds" which was the right answer. The reflection nearly threw a tantrum as it stomped around inside the mirror, furious that we had gotten another one correct. Once she got a hold of herself, she came back into view and gave us the last riddle: I have roads with no travelers, forests with no trees, cities with no people, and oceans with no water. What am I? As she was talking, Nim had a smile on his face as if he knew the answer even before she was fully done giving us the riddle. As soon as she stopped talking, Nim gave the answer of "a map", which was the right one again. The reflection, upon hearing that we had gotten all three riddles right, let out a frustrated cry before punching through the mirror and grabbing Freya's wrists violently.

We were all about to attack and come to her aid until we noticed that a new symbol had appeared on Freya's arm. Before the reflection got away, we all touched it and received a new mark as well. Once everyone had touched the reflection, it retreated back into the mirror before it shattered, revealing a door on the wall. After tending to Freya's wounds, we opened the door and went through, finding ourselves back in the maze once again.

We walked along before coming to yet another fork in the path, except this one seemed like it hadn't been traversed down in a very long time. There were no markings or footprints, only a thin layer of dust covering the ground. We stopped to figure out which way to go and heard hissing sounds coming from one direction and the sounds of flapping from the other. Eventually, we decided on the hallway with the hissing sounds and continued on, eventually arriving at a metal door. Lireal carefully opened the door to the room, revealing a knife blade acting as the doorknob on the other side of the door. If that wasn't disconcerting enough, inside the room there were eight statues with five of them holding corked vials of green liquid. The other three statues had broken glass at their base. Across the room was another door with a knife blade acting as the door knob as well. While we were looking inside, Bill was using his tinkerer's tools to remove the open door from its hinges. Once it was off, he pushed the door down into the room which upheaved a cloud of green dust. Since Bill was closest, he inspected the dust and came to the conclusion that it was toxic. Having all these dangerous warning signs around us made us rethink our path so we turned around and tried a different one.

When we got back to the split in the path, we went down the other option then arrived at another fork. We couldn't decide on which one to go with, so Freya used her Judgement Coin and chose a direction for us. Down the path Freya had chosen for us, we ended up at a hallway ending in a door. Bill took the lead and tried to open it but unfortunately, that door was trapped and he had unknowingly triggered it. As he turned the knob, the door opened as a large, wooden log came swinging down right into his chest and knocking him back. So far, we had gotten lucky and just came across locked doors or unlocked one. This was the first trapped door we encountered so I figured we had to be more careful from then on.

While Bill was recovering from the blow, I peeked inside the room and saw a large well in the center. Around it were grates in the floor that seemed to act as drainage for runoff from the well. Moros then carefully stepped in the room and began looking around for anymore traps or anything suspicious. When he looked into the well, he saw a key at the very bottom of it. After recovering from his unfortunate encounter with the door, Bill volunteered to go down and retrieve it. He transformed into a giant frog and leapt into the air, hitting the ceiling and using it to jump off straight down into the well. Once he was in the well, water was pushed out and overflowed from the top, draining into the grates along the base of it. I was more towards the entrance to the room, so I didn't see exactly what happened next.

Apparently, there were gates along the inside of the well that began to open as the water was pushed out of the well from Bill's swimming. Once they were open, swarms of hostile fish began to swim out. Moros, Lireal, and Freya were around the rim of the well and began attacking the fish to protect Bill. Seeing an opportunity to end it all with one attack, Moros used a lightning attack and killed all the fish in the well while avoiding Bill. After the attack was done, tons of dead fish began rising to the surface of the water, pouring over the top of the well and onto the floor. Bill managed to make it out okay and had the key with him. We didn't know what the key was for since there was no door or container in the room that we knew of. While we rested, Bill took some of the dead fish and made a bonfire to cook them over. I didn’t partake when he offered me some. For all I knew, the fish could’ve been poisoned somehow. Once we were rested up, we backtracked and tried another path.

The next corridor we went down ended in a locked door. Having just found a key, we decided to give it a shot before resorting to lock-picking or breaking it down with force. Luckily, the key was a fit and it unlocked the door. When we opened the door, we immediately began checking for traps then saw a very large room with harpies hovering around inside. They were armed with bows and crossbows and none appeared to be standing on the ground. It was hard to see, but we managed to spot a door at the opposite end of the room. Upon closer inspection, the floor was made up of five-foot by five-foot tiles which we assumed were pressure plates of some sort that when stepped on, triggered traps. There was a spot where there was blood on the floor and the ceiling above it which clued us in. On the backside of the door, there were three arrows sticking out of it. It appeared the harpies were aware of our presence and definitely were not friendly.

We stayed just outside the room and decided to attack the harpies from afar, using the doorway as cover. We each took turns standing in the doorway to attack as there was not enough space for all of us to do so at the same time. During the battle, my gun jammed as I was about to fire at another harpy. Luckily, I remembered the graphite spider that one guy gave me at the outpost so I took a moment to unjam it. The trinket worked like a charm and soon enough, I was back to firing my pistol again. No matter how many harpies we took down, more came to take their place. Seeing as how we weren't going to defeat them all, we tried to come up with a way to get passed without having to fight. Lireal teleported across the room and tried to open the door. It wasn't locked and opened easily enough. As she touched the doorknob, she also gained another symbol on her arm. While she was doing that, Jasper got charmed by one of the harpies who was using a song to lure her into the room. While Jasper walked into the room and towards the harpy, Moros prepared a portal in front of her and tackled her through, teleporting them both over to where Lireal was before she got hurt. Seeing an opening, I ran to the portal and followed the same safe path Moros and Jasper took. I went through and joined the others by the other door, making sure to touch the doorknob to receive the next symbol. Freya and Nim take Moros' portal as well while Bill transformed into a giant eagle and flew across through the room.

After we were all across and had received the symbol on the doorknob, we closed the door and decided to take a rest to tend to our wounds. We were in an empty hallway so there didn't appear to be any dangers around us at the moment. While we were resting, I cleaned and preformed maintenance on my pistol to make sure it didn't jam again in combat. Once we were rested up, we continued on down the labyrinth's corridors until we reached another normal-looking door. We opened it up which revealed a spiraling staircase leading downward. It was a bit dark, so Lireal took the lead and used a spell to summon dancing lights in front of her which took the form of a dancing halfling. Everyone followed her down the stairs while I picked up the rear. As we made our way down, Lireal halted the group as she saw something on one of the steps in front of her. It was a Glyph of Darkness so she asked Moros to dispel it. Once the threat had been taken care of, we continued on cautiously.

Unfortunately, Lireal failed to detect the pressure plate ahead of her and triggered it by accident, causing openings in the walls to open up which released a torrent of small spiders to come forth. Since I was in the back, I had no idea what was going on until I started feeling them fall on me and begin crawling around. I cringed as I drew my dagger and began swinging at them as we hurried down the steps. Some of them managed to get underneath my breastplate which was especially annoying as they started to bite me. They were getting all over the place and I just wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. They were on my hat, in my hair, in between my armor, and even down my shirt.

Eventually, we exited the staircase and entered a large cave which was much different than the bland corridors of the labyrinth behind us. There was a waterfall that turned into a stream that flowed further into the cave. To the left of us was a wooden door and ahead was a bridge that led deeper into the cave’s depths. Nim checked the door while Freya and Lireal scouted ahead and checked out the bridge. Nim didn't find anything of interest and rejoined us as we went ahead to follow the elves. We continued to follow them through the cave, taking the moment to enjoy the natural beauty of the cave as we walked along. Up ahead, Lireal saw a fish that had the misfortune of finding itself on land. It was jumping around right beside a little pond of water, so Lireal teleported over and helped it back into the water with a little push. Just as she did, she sensed something nearby and moved out of the way just as a tentacle whipped at her. There was a stalagmite next to her which was actually a creature in disguise. Lireal had interrupted its meal and it was angry, attacking her with its tentacles. Lireal wasn't having any of it and teleported back over to us before launching a powerful spell which dispatched the creature in one hit.

After dealing with that, we continued on through the cave and came upon a sort of dank, musty area. Freya scouted ahead and discovered row after row of jail cells, most of which were open. Those that weren't had nothing but a skeleton inside. We walked down the center of the corridor with jail cells on either side of us. The area, which appeared to be a prison or dungeon, was a bit swampy or something like that which made walking through it not so fun. While we were looking around, Lireal had found a key and a locked door, so we all formed up around her to see where it led. She unlocked the door and opened it up, revealing a big antechamber with a set of large metal doors on the other side.

Seeing no traps ahead of us, we all entered the room as the door closed behind us. Looking around, we noticed that the walls were covered in the same symbols as the ones we had on our arms. I still couldn't read them or understand what they meant, but I could recognize their shape at least. Aside from the large, metal doors, there was nothing else of interest within the room. We all followed Lireal as she approached the door, and as she did, the symbols on her arm disappeared then reappeared on the door. I looked to my arm and the symbols had disappeared from it as well. Suddenly, the large doors began to creak as they started to open, revealing nothing but fog within. We couldn't see what was on the other side of the door as we all just stood there, peering into the unknown. Having nowhere else to go, we all exchanged anxious looks then stepped into the fog together.


	23. Deja Vu

When we emerged on the other side, we saw that there was a large bridge ahead of us that seemed to lead to an immense city. We also appeared to be out of the labyrinth as we could see the red sky once more and everything else in the distance. We stepped away from the fog door and looked around our immediate surroundings to figure out our next plan of action was going to be. The bridge was made of stone and spanned a great distance. It also appeared to not be guarded, so we'd have easy access traversing it, at least, until we got to the other side. In the end, we went with the cloud option which hadn’t let us down yet… except for the anti-magic ceiling in the beginning, but other than that, it was a good choice. Bill transformed us all into clouds so we could cover a lot of ground quickly and from high above.

We flew above the bridge and followed it all the way to the grand city it connected to. As we got closer to it, we slowed down and began to climb higher to get to a better vantage point. We found a tall spire and hovered around it as we got a better lay of the land. Down below, we saw fighting all over but couldn't quite make out who or what was doing the fighting. We saw a large tree creature getting burned alive, but other than that, there were just small skirmishes all over. The sounds of screaming, shouting, and combat filled the air as we tried to figure out what was going on. While we were surveying the area, we noticed a tall tower near the center of the city, which was the most prominent landmark we could see. Since we had nowhere specific to go, we headed towards the tower to hopefully find more answers. We had to fly above different pathways and bridges, but we finally managed to get near enough to it while avoiding all the battling below. The path we took ended at a large cathedral, so we carefully made our way inside while still in our cloud form.

As we entered, we were greeted by a nearly empty church setting. There were pews lined up in two rows and stained glass high up on the walls. There was no one inside except for one small, elf-looking creature. Surprisingly, despite us being in cloud form, the creature noticed us enter and got up to greet us. He was wearing a burlap cloak for monks and was rather short. He addressed us as if he knew us and even remarked that he was surprised to see us back so soon. We continued to maintain our cloud form and pretended to not notice him at first, but then we gave in and started talking to him.

The elf creature didn’t remember his name but somehow knew ours. Even by just hearing our voices, he could recognize who we were and addressed us by name. Seeing as how our cover was blown, we returned back to normal and continued our conversation with him. He explained that we had indeed been there in that very exact spot before, many times in fact. He told us that we constantly came and went through the cathedral with our party composition varying at times. Sometimes it was minutes and sometimes it was days before he saw us again. The last time he saw us was around fifteen minutes ago which completely confused me. Everything that came out of his mouth confused me. He said he was charged by a higher power to set up and maintain the safe haven within the cathedral specifically just for us. I asked him what I was like the last time I happened to be there and he said I constantly asked questions like I was currently doing. Seemed like it could've been me.

After we were done talking to him, we decided to take the opportunity to rest up within the cathedral before continuing on. While we were chilling, we noticed him talking to some of the wisps as if he knew them. Sometimes, he addressed them by name which was very strange. Just what exactly were those things, I wondered. I took a few moments to walk around and take in my surroundings as I tried to comprehend everything in my head. It hurt to just think about it so I pushed it out for now. Once everyone was ready, we went to the large door at the front of the room where the preacher would normally give his sermon. The elf, who Lireal had named Alan, opened the door for us and bid us farewell. We gave him a nod and exited the cathedral through the door, ending up back in the war-torn city.

As the door closed behind us, we saw a battle happening right in front of us. There were deformed humanoids fighting corrupted eladrin and a cyclops. They were blocking the way forward, so we had no choice but to engage them to clear the path. The fight was won with me taking down a couple of the humanoids and a couple of the eladrin. As we surveyed the area, we moved to the stairs leading further up passed the courtyard we were in.

We went up the stairs and scouted ahead as we heard more fighting in the distance around us. The closer we got to the top, we started to see the tops of two heads belonging to large, stone statues. When we arrived at the end of the stairs, we got a better view of the two guardians and they seemed to be “alive” or at least, able to move on their own. They each were wielding staves and kept their attention on us, seemingly protecting the large cathedral directly behind them.

I was hesitant to advance, so I stayed back a bit with Freya while Moros, Lireal, Jasper, and Bill started to slowly advance up the stairs towards the cathedral. As they moved on, the statues continued to keep their gaze on them as their heads turned. Once the others got about halfway to the cathedral, the statues began to get hostile, leading off with a non-physical attack. We engaged them in battle and came out on top with one of the statues being defeated by unorthodox means. Bill transformed one of them into a large block of stone with its legs still attached to it. The body portion was too heavy and unwieldy that it couldn’t move. Once they were dealt with, we decided to take a rest and heal our wounds, so we returned back to the safety of the previous cathedral.

We took a few hours to collect ourselves before heading back out again. While I rested, I asked the safehouse’s keeper if he knew anything about all the fighting around, but he had no answers for me, which I should’ve guessed. Once we were ready to go, we left the sanctuary once more and proceeded onward. The area we fought through before was still quiet and the enemies still littered the ground. We proceeded up the stairs and went back to the larger cathedral, passing the stone cube statue that was still struggling to move.

At the top of the stairs, we saw a tall, menacing creature that stood between us and the large, double doors that led into the cathedral’s interior. It was fighting a group of corrupted humanoids and was having a seemingly easy time with them. As we continued to look at it, we remembered seeing it fighting on a bridge while we were flying over the city as clouds earlier. It seemed like it was going to be a tough battle, but fortunately, Lireal stepped up and banished it which saved us the struggle of having to fight it head on. I was very much glad she did that because I had a feeling we were going to be in a lot of trouble if we had chosen to engage it directly. It was disturbingly strong looking so I didn’t feel like testing my mettle against it.

Once the area was clear, we headed inside the cathedral and closed the door behind us before the creature returned. Inside the building, we saw an immaculate looking cathedral with very clean floors in near pristine condition. Further in, we saw several gross looking creatures aimlessly wandering around through the many rows of pews scattered about.

Since there were so many enemies around, we decided to just sneak our way passed without fighting. Bill cast a spell which made us harder to detect, so we snuck our way through the bottom floor of the cathedral. On the opposite side, we entered a circular room with stairs leading upward. In front of the stairs was a large creature fully clad in armor and resting its hands on a large greatsword. It appeared to be guarding the way forward and hadn't noticed us yet. Since we were still under Bill's sneaking spell, we tried to just sneak by the imposing guard. We hugged the walls and kept out of its gaze the best we could, moving without a sound. Fortunately, we all managed to get by without as much as a pin drop being heard. We proceeded up the stairs and snuck by another large area filled with pews and aimlessly wandering creatures.

At the other side of the second room of creatures, we came upon a staircase that ascended up into the cathedral's large spire. By then, I was ready for a fight. I could feel that the end was near and that whatever was behind all this was close by. I remained alert and held the hilt of my sword, ready to draw it at a moment's notice. As we climbed the stairs, we began to notice smoke coming down from above. The further we went, the thicker the smoke began to get. Soon enough, our vision began to diminish and the smoke began to cause us all to cough profusely. Even with my mask, I couldn't help but succumb to a fit of coughing caused by the black smoke. There didn't seem to be a fire or anything as we couldn't feel excessive heat or hear the crackling of flames. By the time we reached the top, my eyes were tearing and I was nearly coughing my lungs out.

Ahead of us, Lireal spotted something and ventured off on her own into a small room. As she got closer, she relayed back to us what she saw. There was an altar-like slab in the center of the room with a mysterious figure lying on it. The smoke seemed to be emanating from the individual but she couldn't tell how. The person appeared to be pitch black in appearance with only faint features being recognizable. As Lireal got a closer look, she saw what appeared to be a younger version of the individual who led the attack on us beneath the obelisk. After telling us who she thought he was, she prepared a spell and was about to finish him off with a single attack. While she was doing that, I noticed a faint blue glow coming from behind us. It resembled the blue wisps, but something seemed different about it. Even though there was a lot of smoke, I could tell that there was something coming up from down the stairs. Freya and Jasper also started to notice the blue light so we alerted the others about it. I tried to get their attention by talking, but I could barely breathe, so I tapped Bill on the shoulder and directed him towards the stairs.

After noticing the glow, a feminine voice came forth telling Lireal to halt her attack. Even though Lireal really wanted to, she stayed her hand and waited to deliver her devastating spell. Shortly after we heard the voice, the blue light began to get brighter as a figure finally came into view. The light was almost blinding but after a brief moment, my eyes began to readjust as I looked back to who was causing the light. At first, I thought I was hallucinating, but after getting a better look, I beheld someone who I only thought existed in fairy tales. At first, I was only going off the descriptions I had been told from the stories, but judging from everyone else's expressions, I was certain that person in front of us had to be the same one from the tales of old. It was the Fey Queen, Gaia.

I, along with the others, moved out of the way and cleared a path for her to continue up towards the room where Lireal and the mysterious black figure were. Lireal was still poised to kill the figure at a moment's whim, but directed her attention towards the Fey Queen as she entered the room along with her. Once the Fey Queen was in front of the slab, she encapsulated the figure in a magical bubble which also stopped the smoke from pouring forth from it. The bubble soon became pitch black as the smoke was trapped within its sphere. Once the smoke situation had been dealt with, the Fey Queen looked to all of us and began to explain everything. I moved into the room to hear her better as did the others who had been watching from the stairs with me.

The Fey Queen introduced herself and started off by saying that we were all in a dream, of sorts. It was sort of reminiscent of when we were caught in the dream world caused by Ryneus and the Yellow Orb. She said that she had been scattered across the realms by the black figure, and that we had recovered all her parts, which happened to be the blue wisps that constantly followed us around since entering the labyrinth. She said a few more things then ended by giving us two options that we could take moving forward. Option 1 was basically the option where we gave up and allowed the cycle to continue and we would be reincarnated or something. I don't know; it was all so very confusing. Option 2 was the option where we try and make things right by stopping the cycle and defeat the bad guy and yatta yatta yatta. All the talk about fixing things, having the world be different, and potentially starting the cycle anew hurt my head so I mostly just left it all to the others to decide on what to do. I was at a loss as I thought that whenever we got to the end of this afterlife, or dream, or whatever it was, we would be able to fix everything on the spot. I thought it would return to how things were where everyone was still alive and such. But no, everyone was still dead and we had not fixed anything quite just yet.

After more talking with the Fey Queen, the others chose to go with Option 2 and try and fix everything for good. The Fey Queen said she'd give us three tools to help us with our quest: a magical gauntlet, a hammer, and a chisel. The gauntlet was used to hold the hammer and the chisel was to be used with the hammer to destroy the White and Black Orbs. I was disappointed that we still had more work to do. I remember that this was when I began to get disheartened and severely demoralized. Once we were done talking with the Fey Queen and had our mission, Lireal exacted her revenge and killed the black figure. As the figure died, the dream began to crumble and deteriorate as we were cast back into the waking world, our world, the very same world that was seemingly destroyed by the Orbs earlier.


	24. The Boys are Back in Town

As I came to, I was met by nothing more than blackness and the sounds of my own haggard breathing. I tried to move but I was in a very confined space seemingly made of stone. I remember feeling horribly fatigued as my body ached when I tried to move. My throat was parched and my stomach hurt from hunger pains. All around, I felt like crap and was very annoyed at the position I was in. I began to panic as I tried to break free from my stone prison, but to no avail. That was probably one of my lowest lows I could recall during our entire time together. I started to break down and sob, having given up all hope and resigned myself to death alone in the dark abyss. All seemed lost until the top of my prison began to slowly slide open. There was a faint light and I could hear sounds coming from elsewhere in the room. It had to be the others, I thought. It just had to be which sparked a little bit of hope within me.

Once the lid was fully pushed off my tomb, I slowly sat up and looked around. The room was barely lit and I could see the others in a similar state as me. Some were still getting out of their stone coffins while others were up and about looking around. It appeared we were all in a crypt that had stone coffins for all of us. It also seemed that we all had our gear stowed with us inside our tombs, so I took a moment to check that my weapons and gear were all in order. It helped break me away from my mental breakdown from earlier. After everyone was on their feet, they started to explore, heading down the sole corridor in the room. It was dark and dank, but there was some fire around that lit our surroundings.

Following the others, I noticed that Moros was acting a bit strange but I figured he was just trying to compose himself like I was. Soon enough, we came to another crypt full of sealed stone tombs. The others took a moment to look at the tombs to see who they were but I didn’t bother. Upon glancing at the names, we realized that they belonged to the members of the crew. We found every member there to include Isil and Cane, but we also found several other tombs that had some of the crew members’ surnames. We wondered if they belonged to their family members, or something? Moros and Lireal opened Cane’s tomb to see his skeleton dressed in his clothes, though his belongings were missing.

After looking around, we continued on and eventually ended up in a chapel meant to be used for prayer. It was devoid of people and only had a few pews in it. We found a door that seemed to lead outside and opened it up, momentarily being blinded by the sunlight. We all poured out from the chapel and stood underneath the building’s overhang. After our eyes readjusted, we could see a small village around us with its denizens all looking at us, almost in a frightened state. None of us recognized our surroundings which confused us, remembering that we were at the top of the obelisk the last time we were in our realm. In the distance, we could barely make out what appeared to be the remains of our flying ship in the center of the village. I was about to ask them where we were, but Lireal started to talk to them in a foreign language. I just looked at her to see what she was doing then Moros started talking in a foreign language, one seemingly different from the one Lireal was speaking in. As they began talking gibberish which caused the villagers to run away, I just moved off to the side and sat on the steps, burying my face in my hands. At the point, I had enough of trying to figure things out. I thought we would’ve fixed everything by then but it didn’t appear to be the case. I just sat there, feeling down and defeated as Lireal and Moros continued to talk in tongues in a non-coherent manner.

Shortly after the villagers were scared off by us coming out of the chapel, a figure appeared and began to approach us from the distance. He was an elderly man and wore a cape that bellowed in the wind. I caught a glimpse of the individual as he stopped in front of us, causing the others to turn their attention towards him as well. The man greeted us welcomingly and seemed to know us. As we stood there looking him over, we realized who it was as he transformed into a dragon. It was Mark and he had grown into ancient silver dragon. We were all shocked to see him looking the way he did and we had so many questions to ask him. He told us he’d tell us everything and led us back to his house within the ship’s remains to explain it all.

Once we were all situated in his house, he began to fill us in about what had happened since we were on top of the obelisk. From the get go, I was completely overwhelmed and could barely comprehend what he was saying. The first thing he told us was that we had been dead for several thousands of years. Not tens or hundreds, but thousands. After the douchebag activated the orbs, he had gotten to our bodies and retrieved them, bringing them back to the ship complete with all of our gear. He coordinated with the remaining crew and found sanctuary for them and himself in the floating islands near where Moros’ college was located. He said he didn’t know where the Emperor guy went or what happened to him since seeking refuge in the floating islands. After that, I was unable to comprehend anything Mark told us so I relied on the others to fill me in at a later point. There was only so much my little, feeble mind can take in one sitting.

After Mark was done talking with the others, he led us all outside. The group had persuaded him to take us towards the obelisk so we could hopefully right what was wrong with the world. I was still zoned out so I just blankly followed everyone else as they went about their plan. Eventually, we all ended up getting on Mark’s back after he transformed back into a dragon. Once we were all on his back, he took off into the air and flew towards the remains of the capital where the obelisk was supposedly still located. The ride there took around three days and I remember sleeping a lot during the trip. I had been dead for thousands of years after all. How I was awake and functioning normally was beyond me, so I just went with it. When we first disembarked from the sanctuary, I felt very fatigued, but after getting some sleep, I started to feel better. As we got closer to the obelisk, something stirred below beneath the ground as Mark alerted us to our nearing approach.


	25. A Dish Best Served Cold

When we got close enough, Bill turned us all into clouds as we jumped off Mark’s back to begin our descent towards the obelisk. While we did, the area beneath us continued to rumble until something broke through the ground, pushing the towering trees out of the way as it came forth. A giant leviathan emerged from the abyss and came directly at us. Mark flew ahead of us and got the creature’s attention, using himself as a distraction as he tried to draw it away. We helplessly watched as the creature locked on to him and devoured him whole, crashing back down to the earth with Mark in its terrifying maw. There was nothing we could do for him so we focused on our mission. With the creature distracted, we hurried as fast as we could towards the obelisk while still in our cloud form. We passed several creatures and things along the way as we zoomed by, eventually arriving at the obelisk.

Below the towering structure was a partially covered entrance to a cave leading down below. There were unnatural-looking tentacles coming from the base of the obelisk and one of them was obscuring the doorway. Luckily, we found a gap between the doorway and tentacle and squeezed through, heading down the stairs while still in our cloud form. When we got closer to the bottom of the stairs, we reverted back to our normal selves as we came to the room at the end. Memories immediately began to flood back into my mind, harsh ones as I remembered our last time being there. Eryarus and his men had ambushed us and taken the orbs for his own nefarious purposes. As I stepped into the room, I tried my best to push those thoughts out of my head to focus on the mission at hand.

As we all entered the room together, we saw what appeared to be a giant head or face engulfing the entire back wall. The tentacles were all around the room, seemingly originating from the face. Looking at it, we recognized who it was and readied ourselves for a fight. It was the face of Eryarus but distorted and deformed by his new appearance. His expression seemed to be that of eternal pain as he opened his eyes to see us all standing defiantly there before him. He spoke to us in an agonizing tone, blaming us for what happened to him. It seemed that killing his body in the dream world affected his body in the real world, or whatever “real” meant anymore. In front of him was a pedestal that held the Black Orb; the White Orb was nowhere to be seen.

After a brief exchange of words, Eryarus lashed out with his tentacles and attacked us. Seeing him again and us being so close to our goal reinvigorated my drive to fight. I drew my sword and charged straight at him, letting out all my wrath and hatred to help me fight. As we fought, Lireal managed to destroy the Black Orb after the others gave her the tools to do so. Moros originally had the chisel and Bill the gauntlet, but they gave them to Lireal so she could deliver the final blow to the orbs. Once the Black Orb was destroyed, we caught glimpse of something shimmering within Eryarus. It was the White Orb, so we had to get up close to him to retrieve it. Jasper and I took the lead and began striking at the giant face to distract him, hopefully opening up a big enough gap for Lireal to get in and destroy the orb. As the fight waged on, Lireal finally found an opening and destroyed the White Orb, causing a giant explosion of blinding light.

#

I don’t exactly know what happened next, but I think I saw another vision, similar to what I had seen when Eryarus first activated the orbs. Only this time, it was only me in the vision. I had gone back to the Order of the Sacred Fire and joined back up with them, eventually graduating and moving up the ranks. I was a highly esteemed member and all was good. Then the vision fast-forwarded to later in my life when I happened to be in a relationship with someone. It was a girl with long black hair and fair skin. The vision was a bit fuzzy but I could make out those details at least. As it continued to show me the future, or an alternate life, it all began to get fuzzier and fuzzier until it became pitch black.

And then I woke up. I can’t explain it and I have no idea how it happened. One day, I was just doing my own thing and living a normal life, then the next, I woke up with all these… memories? Or was it a dream? A vision? I don’t know. It was all so confusing. Shortly after that day, I decided to find out what had happened to me and eventually found myself back with the Order. I never did find any of those teammates from my dream, but who knows. Maybe one day I’ll meet them.


End file.
